The Real 17
by trhodes9
Summary: Ranger held at gunpoint! Who is trying to bring down Rangeman?  Who are the players in this story? How will they get out of this?  Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets.  Return from a long break - More to come!  BABE, Eventual HEAs
1. Prolog

The director blew out a sigh. The day was a lot longer than planned. Only one more item on the agenda and it would be time for home. The director looked across the room to the windows. It was dark outside and the view was still spectacular. Washington DC at night. The Potomac. The monuments. The traffic. The clock next to the window said 4 minutes until 9pm. The general was 11 minutes late. Not a normal occurrence. 4 more minutes and he would have to wait until tomorrow.

At 1 minute until 9, there was a tap on the door, then it opened. "Director?" Shit. "Come in General." General Peter Austin entered the room with military precision and walked across the room to stand in front of the desk. Under his arm was a sizeable set of files. The director looked at the files, then at the general. Their eyes met. The general inclined his head and said "Mission Section Downtime completed. All operatives are back in country. They are being treated and debriefed at Bethesda. "

"Good." The director looked down. The general didn't move. The director looked back up. The general looked nervous. Anxious.

Interesting.

"General?"

The general opened his mouth, closed it, swallowed. Open his mouth again, closed it. He was sweating slightly. Very interesting.

"Out with it general."

The general took a deep breath, straightened to attention, then said "Striker force resigned today. Refused to renew their contracts."

The director stared. "The whole unit? Why?"

"Too difficult to leave family and business obligations. Concern for loved ones interfering with their ability to perform. Homesickness doing the same. Too many responsibilities at home making them worry. And more."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Including Striker One?"

"Yes."

The director looked down at the desk. For 2 minutes the only sound in the room was the old clock on the wall ticking. "Director?"

The director looked up, then gestured at the files under the generals' arm. "Are those their dossiers? Un-redacted?"

"Yes"

The director raised a hand. The general didn't move. "Hand them over." The general didn't move. The director looked square into the general's eyes with a look that would cause most to wet themselves. "General?"

"These men are all US citizens – born here. They deserve the highest honors this country can possibly offer. They have risked their lives over and over and lost colleagues. They should…"

The director raised a hand. "General, I promise you, these men will be protected and honored. I give you my word that they will be allowed to live in peace if that is their choice. Section 31 takes care of its own. I intend to make sure these mean are allowed to live as they choose."

The general looked deep into the directors' eyes and saw the absolute conviction of the words.

"Peter, I promise you, they will be protected."

The general handed the files to the director. "Thank you."

"Go home Peter. It's been a long week and you need to recharge your batteries with your family."

The general exhaled. "Thanks. I think I will. Good night."

"Good night." The general turned and walked to the door, opened it and went thru with a final "G'night."

The director sat for a moment after the door clicked shut, head down, trying to breathe slowly. Finally! A whole team, intact, at its peak. Exultation flowed, followed by relief. Now, the plan could finally be put in motion. The director looked down at the top folder. The label said "Striker One". Might as well begin with the leader. The folder flipped open and the picture of a handsome man came into view. The director began reading the personnel profile…"Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Age 31. Standing rank: Colonel. Current residence: Trenton NJ, Street name of Ranger…" The director stared, paled, then cursed. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!". The folder flipped shut and the director grabbed the pile and shoved it into a leather bag, snatched that and a leather brief case up, went to the wall across from the windows and touched a spot on the wall. The wood panel slid open, the director went thru and the panel closed. A moment later all the lights in the opulent office shut off and it was as though no one had ever been present.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy the story. I am intending to make it a full novel length story even if no one reads it. This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut.

For my reviewers – hang in there. It's just getting started.

********and so it begins**********

It has been a looong 5 weeks. That's how long it's been since a really bad week where the bond office blew up then burned down, people were killed, fires got started, Vinnie was kidnapped, ransomed, then almost bought it, I was kidnapped then rescued. Gators and fried chicken and stink bombs were included. *sigh*. My name is Stephanie Plum and until all that happened I was a bond enforcement agent otherwise known as a bounty hunter working for my cousin Vinnie. I'm 5'5", brown really curly hair, big blue eyes and a decent shape. I'm not really into being fashionable and all girly, but I clean up nice and I like to dress really well ever so often to see if anyone notices. They usually do.

Unfortunately, that really bad week left me with no real job since the bond office wouldn't be back up and running until all the paper work and certifications were completed and the new office finished. That was going to take a while since Vinnie and his father in-law, Harry the Hammer had to start the business up from scratch. The old business was owned by a syndicate with really heavy crime connections and had been essentially destroyed. Any skips or licenses still open had gone with it and it would be a while before all that got sorted out. In the mean time, the new "VP Bail Bonds" was starting from scratch. It was still waiting for a final insurance and bonding certification before it could start bonding out. It had bought some bonds from a small bond office that was closing down, but so far none had skipped.

Now my rent, electric and cable were due and I was sitting at the dining table staring at what was in front of me. And that wasn't much. I had my check book which showed a balance of $54.03, a pile of change which totaled $36.45, 3 gift cards for $75 worth of merchandise, and 2 tens, a five and a one in cash. That was a grand total of $191.48 as the whole sum of Stephanie Plums' worldly wealth. Gad. I was over $600.00 short of what I needed. I had enough to cover electric and I could kill the cable, but that still left me skipping the rent. I had already skipped it last month. I guess I'm actually a lot more than $600 short.

I could call my parents, but then I would have to listen to my mom telling me how I should get a "real" job and marry Joe Morelli and be a "normal" person and just let him support me. My stomach turned over just thinking about calling my folks. I couldn't call my sister Valarie since she and her husband Albert barely made it as it was. None of my friends had much more than I did.

I could call Joe Morelli my once upon a time boyfriend. Morelli was a drop dead gorgeous guy, in an Italian Stallion sort of way, tall and dark and muscular, with warm brown eyes and movie star good looks. Yum. Unfortunately he hates my job, hates that I can't cook, wants a stay at home wife with the requisite 2 or 3 kids and a white picket fence. He'd help me, but there'd be a price. We used to be in an on again, off again relationship that had more off time then on towards the latter part of our time together. We'd had a big fight 3 months ago over bread. Well, on the outside it was about bread. I had thought a lot about it and I realized that it was really about roles. I was not nor would ever be a housewife. That's what Morelli wanted. A Stepford, burg housewife. Shit. If he'd wanted bread, he should have bought some.

We hadn't really talked since that night that the week of trouble finished. Morelli had come to my apartment late that night. I had just finished a shower when I answered his knock…

_***Lines below copied from Sizzling Sixteen for context only***_

"_What?" I asked holding the door partially open._

"_Can I come in?"_

"_I'm not dressed."_

_Morelli stepped into my apartment and closed and locked the door behind him. "That's perfect" he said, "because I have something for you to wear." And he dangled a lacy pink thong from his finger. "I stopped at the mall on the way home just now. I thought you'd look pretty in this."_

_***Lines above copied from Sizzling Sixteen for context only***_

_I looked at the thong, then looked back at Morelli. I suddenly realized I wasn't enthusiastic about him anymore. I just didn't see dealing with all the shit any longer. It was like we were permanently stuck in high school or something. It wasn't a grown up relationship. Sneaking looks down my shirt. Inviting me to visits "his guys". What were we, 15? And then there was Ranger. My relationship with him was changing somehow. He never told me I wasn't good enough and never acted juvenile towards me. I didn't know where that was going, but at least it seemed to be forward. This thing with Morelli wasn't. "I don't like pink."_

"_What? Since when Cupcake? You're a girl. All girls like pink." He was frowning now. Beginning to turn a little read around his cheeks._

"_I've NEVER liked pink. Ever. I've told you that before, you just never listened." _

"_Fine. Don't wear it then" he said, stuffing the thong in his pocket. "You don't need to wear anything". Morelli reached for my towel and I stepped back and clutched it tighter. _

"_No Joe." Now he was turning red in the face and looking furious. His hands fisted, then started waving as he started yelling._

"_What the fuck do you mean, no? Why not? Are you waiting for the scum criminal you're always following around? Is that it? He's a criminal and a nut job who should be locked up in a cage. You should be ashamed of being seen with him, working with him. Do you know how that looks? Do you have any idea how much I hate seeing you anywhere near him?" Morelli was in full Italian fury now. Veins popping, red faced, hands waving, leaning forward and in my face. He didn't scare me so much, I mean I didn't think he'd hit me, but I wanted him gone. I reached past him, unlocked the door and opened it._

"_Please leave." I held the door open and slid partially behind it. "Now."_

_Morelli reached out and grabbed my face with one hand and leaned in to put his face about 4 inches from mine. "I'm going to destroy that bastard. I'm going to do whatever it takes to bring that scum down. I'm gonna show you exactly what sort of thug trash you've been so fascinated by. I swear to god I'll kill him if I have to." I pulled his hand off my face and shoved him. "Leave Joe. Now."_

_He glared. "This isn't over." He stormed out, I slammed the door and threw the floor bolt._

That was the last time I saw Morelli alone. Since then, I'd seen him at Pinos',at the grocery store and at the donut shop a couple of times. We'd been polite, and Morelli had asked me to go to dinner a few times, but I said no. He always told me to call. I never did. I couldn't just call now and ask for help. Oh he'd help me, but I would hear about it and he would insist that I move back in with all that implied.

Oh no. I couldn't call Morelli.

That only left Ranger. Ranger was former Special Forces, owns and runs a hugely successful security business, is drop dead latino gorgeous, and is sex walking. Handsome in a young Antonio Banderas sort of way, and really built like LL CoolJ. He only wears black, drives really hot black cars, sleeps naked, and is indescribably good in bed. I know this from firsthand experience. It was only once, but it created a connection between us that is still there and still growing. If I asked him for a loan, he would simply ask me how much, hand it to me plus a little more and that would be it. No judgment, no "you should", no pressure. He would wait for me to tell him what I needed and respect my need for making my own decisions. He would help, but he was in the wind.

That meant I had to call his second in command, Tank. Tank was, well, his name was a perfect description of him. Tank was huge but he was a good guy. He and my friend Lula had been a thing for a while, and I got to know him a little then. I think he likes me, and I hope he'll be able to help.

I looked at the pitiful pile of money on my table, then at my cell phone. I sighed, I picked it up, dialed Tanks number.

"Yo." He sounded distracted.

"Hi Tank. This is Steph. I…I kind've need some help."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing bad."

"What can I do?"

"I was wondering if I could come do searches for Rangeman. You know the bond office is closed and no one else needs anyone and I was hoping I could have my search job back at Rangeman."

"I'm sorry Steph. I hired someone full time to do nothing but searches. The desk is not available."

"Oh." I gulped. Oh god.

"I do have another job that I was thinking you'd be perfect for. It's an office job but it's more than the search desk. How about you come down at 1 today and we'll go over it?"

"Ok. I'll be there." "Good." And he hung up. Tank had no phone manners at all. Now I was left wondering what job Tank would consider perfect for me. I didn't know if I should be excited or scared.

I spent the next couple of hours getting ready. I did the shower, hair gel, and makeup thing, trying to make sure I looked like a professional without the slut element. I kept the hair soft and fluffing around my shoulders and my eye makeup soft. I wanted to look like I was serious, but adult. I only went with 2 coats of mascara. Not that I wasn't tempted to use more. A lot more. But I was trying to keep with the whole "professional" persona.

Then I spent a lot of time in my closet. I didn't have a lot of work clothes as in office work clothes anymore. And I knew I needed things to be basic black as in Rangeman black. I finally settled on a little blank pencil skirt that came just past my knees, a soft, scoop necked white cotton jersey top which I tucked in with a little black leather belt. Next I added a little black jacket from an old pantsuit that I never liked. It came down to my hips and flared a bit. I always thought it made my hips look huge. But with the pencil skirt, I actually made my hips look sexy and my butt look small. Nicely shaped, but smaller. Finally, at the back of my closet I found a pair of black leather 2 inch Mary Jane pumps from my days as a lingerie buyer. I'd spent too much time on my feet as a buyer to wear FMPs all day, so the 2 inch heels. I added a simple gold chain with some little charms on it around my neck, and I was done. I looked in the full length mirror on the closet door and thought I really looked professional. I hoped. It had been so long since I had dressed for office work I wasn't sure.

I sashayed out the bedroom and headed for the door. I stopped long enough to let Rex know what was going on and drop a couple of raisons in his bowl. He came out of his soup can, and sat up on his cute little hamster butt and looked me over. I thought he looked impressed. "I'm going to talk to Tank about me getting a real job. We may even get real food in here soon." Rex's whiskers whirred he grabbed his raisons and disappeared into his soup can. Primo time with the pet. Now off to see Tank.

I motored across town and made it to Rangeman in about 20 minutes. That left me 5 minutes to reach Tank's desk. I pulled into the underground garage, parked my latest POS car in an empty slot. I took the elevator from there to the 5th floor where Tank's office was. On arriving, several of the guys waved at me. I looked around and saw Hal in the monitor room with a guy I didn't know.

"Hi Hal. You know where Tank is? I have an appointment with him." Hal grinned at me.

"I think he's in Rangers office. He doesn't like to take the paper work to his office cause he thinks it might stay there. Why do you have an appointment?"

"I need a job and he says he has one for me that isn't searches."

Hal looked a little surprised, "Good luck then."

"Thanks." I headed to the little hall at the back of the room where Rangers office was. The door was closed, but I could hear Tank's voice in the room. I knocked, and he told me to come in. Tank was talking on the phone and gestured me to come in and sit in the chair in front of the desk. He wrapped up the conversation, then looked at me.

I looked back.

"I have a position that needs someone who has a business administration degree, the ability to negotiate costs with our vendors, and who knows our business inside and out because I don't have time to teach all that. I think that's you. What do you think?" Wow. Bang. Right to the point.

I swallowed. "Sounds like me. What exactly is the job?"

Tank looked at me, leaned back in his chair and started talking. "Rangeman started as a small security firm 5 years ago with just Ranger, Me and a couple of other guys. We did high bond skips, and various other jobs including the "decorating" jobs you know about." He was grinning. "Our main source of income was high dollar government contracts. Classified contracts. Over the last 2 years that has changed. We have 4 offices as you know – here in Trenton, Boston, Atlanta, and Miami. Our business and our income spiraled up to the point where we have now ended the classified contracts in favor of Rangeman business. When Ranger set up the business, he did it with a structure that worked for us in the military. It worked for a long time. But now the structure isn't doing what we need it to do and the paper work is preventing us from pursuing business that we need. Our costs are too high and we are limiting ourselves because we're not organized for something of this size. Rangeman needs a Business Manager. I think you should be it. " He stopped talking and looked at me. Wow. That was more words than I have heard from Tank in all the time I've known him. Then it hit me what he was saying.

I stared at Tank. "I have questions." He nodded. "You say your costs are too high. Who negotiates your purchasing contracts now?" He looked at me. "You?" He shook his head. "Ranger?" He shook his head. I stared at him. "Who then?"

"No one. We don't have any purchasing contracts. We just go buy what we need when we need it." I stared at him. I thought of all the ammunition, uniforms, computers, Jesus, the paper, pens, pencils…Oh my god. I took a deep breath. OK then.

"If you two and I assume the other office managers can't keep up with paper work, there is no way I can by myself. Will there be other hires to help with things?" Tank nodded.

"This position covers all 4 offices?"

"Not at first. The thought was that we could re-organize a single office then roll out changes to the rest of them as soon as they are tested and proven. As each office is re-organized and gets its own administrator, then the overall administration would come under the control of a single directing administrator here in Trenton." Tank looked very serious. "We really need someone who understands Rangeman and what we do, how we do it, and who can work with it."

Now for the big question. "What's the salary for this?"

Tank smiled slightly and quoted a number. I stared at him. Now the important question to me and my independence. "Was this Ranger's idea?"

Tank leaned back. "No. This position was discussed more than 4 months ago and was agreed to by all the partners. You may not know this, but Ranger holds the controlling percentage of this business, but I have the second largest interest. Various other partners hold the rest. We all agreed this is the logical next step in our growth, but we've put it off as long as we can until we're out of the classified contracts. We've been trying the last few weeks to locate someone in Boston and Miami with no luck. I told Ranger I would try here in Trenton while he was gone for this last contract. He has no knowledge that I am offering you this."

He leaned over and handed me a folder. "Everything in this offer has been reviewed and approved by all the partners. It contains standard Rangeman requirements and benefits, plus a few additional items we felt were necessary for a business manager. You may not like all of them, but they are what is required of our employees."

I looked at the folder. Tank stood up. "Stay here and read it over. I'll be back in a little while to answer any questions you may have."

I read the contract and the follow up information. Wow. There was a salary range set for the position and Tank had offered me the lower end. If I did a good job I could end up making a lot of money. Then there were the perks. Really good health insurance. I shuddered when I realized it probably wasn't a negotiated contract. A Rangeman provided apartment at a set monthly price or a monthly stipend to get quarters that met Rangeman security requirements. Holy Crap. Fitness and weapon requirements were relaxed, but there was still a requirement that any administrative employee be able to handle a gun and be able to perform basic self defense moves in order to pass some kind of basic self defense test. OK. I can do that. Background and drug testing at the beginning and at random points during employment. No problem for me there but I begin to understand why no one took the job. Yeesh. I was already familiar with Ranger's thing about being safe so it didn't surprise me. And I could live with it.

I looked at the clock and realized it was almost 2. Tank opened the door, went and sat behind the desk. "Well?"

I took a deep breath. "I would have to move out of my apartment onto the 4th floor?" The 4th floor of the building was done over as apartments for employees. I didn't know if I could live there or not.

"No. 4 is temporary lodging only. You would need to move to one of the secure apartment buildings." I stared at him. Tank grinned. "Rangeman owns 2 apartment building here in Trenton where most of our employees live." Then he rattled off the addresses of 2 buildings that had been refurbished in the last couple of years and were known for their security. I should have guessed.

"There are a lot of seniors in those buildings, or there used to be." I looked at Tank.

"They're still there. They are part of the security system because they see everything that happens in and around the building and aren't afraid to yell about it. We move people in to the apartments as they come open, but we don't force people out."

"It sounds like my building. I'm surprised you didn't buy it since it should be pretty cheap."

Tank's grin expanded. "We've been approached by the owners several times. Ranger didn't want to buy it because it because he was concerned you would feel that he was pressuring you or smothering you. It would be a good deal for us."

I stared. Ranger had made a bad business decision because he was afraid of my reaction. Things that make you go hmmmmm. "If I sign this, that reason goes out the window then?" Tanks nodded. "How much do they want for the building?" Tank stated a number. I stared. "Would it be up to the business manager to negotiate the purchase of the building?" Tank nodded. I reached across the desk to grab a pen and sign the contract. "Good. That number sucks and I intend to do a lot better. When can I get started?"

Tank looked relieved. "How about tomorrow at 8am?"

I grinned. "Perfect." I was going to find Lula and Connie and Mary Lou and see about a little celebration. Short on the booze, long on dessert. I stood up and headed for the door.

"Steph?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"Rangeman policy allows a new employee to advance half the first paycheck for living expenses. When you come in tomorrow, I'll have it ready for you." Tank smiled a full on Tank smile. It was almost as blinding as Ranger's. Almost. Not quite. "Rossini's is having a special on tiramisu tonight."

I smiled back. "Perfect."

*****Notes*****

I know you're gnashing your teeth about the prolog and now the first chapter. Not a word about the Director yet. Just hang on. This is going to be a long ride. Remember I intend this to be a novel length story. I'm still setting up. More to come I promise. I'm taking a cue from Ranger with a mystery inside a mystery inside a secret. Hehehehehe!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy the story. Still a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, including Ranger, and there will be smut.

Thanks to all reviewers!

This chapter is a little short, but what the heck. I will update the story line at least once a week, more often as it comes to me. This is my current favorite hobby activity so hopefully I'll be able to get updates out more than once a week. I'm having fun!

********Chapter 2**********

I walked sedately out of Tanks office, off the 5th floor and into the elevator. Inside I was screaming and dancing. Keeping a firm grip on my dignity, and mindful of the cameras, I exited the elevator with my chin up and strolled calmly to my car, opened the door and got in. Checking to make sure no one was around, I yelled. "Yesssssss! I got a jah-ob, I gotta jah-ob". Still smiling like an idiot, I started my POS chevy and headed for Mary Lou's house. I would have gone to the bond office in times past, but it wasn't open yet, Connie was working from home and Lula was working part time at a little boutique clothing store down on Hamilton.

So I motored off through the burg to see Mary Lou. It was 3pm and she would be home with the kids plunked down in front of the TV for afternoon cartoons. Hopefully they'd be quiet for a little while.

Arriving at her little house, I parked, waited for the smoke from my car to dissipate from black to wispy gray. I opened the car door and stood up, listening before I went any further. No screaming, no yelling, no crashing. I could hear the TV on loud in the house, but otherwise things seemed calm. I love cartoons!

I walked towards the front door, only to have it opened and Mary Lou pop her head out. "What are you doing here all dressed up? Take your Granny to a viewing?"

"Nope." I slid past her into the hall. "I was on a job interview."

She stared at me. "Obviously not for bounty hunting. Did you finally cave and apply to the tampon factory?"

"God no. I'm the new Business Manager for Rangeman Security." I smiled smugly at her.

Mary Lou stared at me, opened her mouth, closed it, grabbed my hand and drug me down the hall to the kitchen. On the way by the living room, I noticed that her mother-in-law was in the living room with the kids and they were all quietly watching some sort of cartoons on Nickelodeon.

Mary Lou pushed into the kitchen and let the door swing shut behind us. She grabbed me and hugged me. "I am so glad you're finally doing something you will be really good at." She leaned back and looked at me. "How is Morelli taking you working at Rangeman?"

"Don't care. He's done. He's toast. Stick a fork in him. I am over with it." I pulled my jacket off and sat down at the kitchen table. I reached over and picked up a cookie from a plate on the table.

"That's what you said before. You always went back. Why is this time different?"

"I dunno. I guess I'm just tired of only being sexual relief for him. He never took me out, never wanted to go to the movies, just sat home in his sweats, drank beer and complained because I didn't cook and we had to buy out. I just couldn't do it anymore." I picked up another cookie. Chocolate chips. Yum.

"How's your mom taking it? She's gonna be pissed cause she was so sure you would get married, settle down and have kids. You better be prepared for her griping." Mary Lou put a glass of milk in front of me and one in front of her spot, took a cookie and started crunching.

"I know. But at least I'm not bounty hunting anymore."

"What about Ranger? Why did he suddenly give you this job?"

"He doesn't know about it yet. He's out of the country and Tank hired me."

Mary Lou rolled her eyes a bit. "Steph. What if he doesn't want you working there? He's been playing around with you for a while. What if he thinks it's too much to have to deal with you every day? He might not let you keep it."

One of my greatest fears about this job was that I would fail. The other was that Ranger wouldn't let me keep it. "I dunno Mare. He always let me have the search desk anytime I wanted it. Encouraged me to keep it even. Why would this be different?"

"I don't know Steph. But this is a different job. It's more involved in his business. He might not like it."

I sighed. That was my worry. I didn't know what was in Ranger's head about our relationship(?) if that's what you'd call it. I know we'd gotten closer. He talked to me more. Asked me to ride with him on business, grabbing skips, doing distractions. He'd started calling to check in, always seemed glad when I checked in with him. He encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone. I knew he loved me. But I also knew he did not want a ring, kids, or a white picket fence. I don't think it did either, but then I didn't really know what I wanted. I didn't know what I would feel safe with.

"Mare, I don't know what Ranger is going to do when he sees I have this job. But he's always been fair with me. I'm going to go on the assumption that it's my job to lose. The pay is really great, and I intend to do a really good job. By the way, I need to go buy some more office clothes than I have. Wanna go shopping with me?"

"Are you kidding? Where? When do you get paid?" She was fairly bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Tank is giving me an advance on my first paycheck tomorrow, and I thought maybe you could come with me after work tomorrow?"

"Well yeah! So what are you doing tonight? Want dinner here? It's just the kids, Mama Stancovich and us. Lenny and his dad are going to some guy thing with the lodge." Oh goody. Mama Stancovich always seemed to smell something bad when she was around me. Definitely not one of my fans.

"I was wondering if you and Lula and Connie would come out and celebrate with me? I don't want to do a lot of drinking since I have to get up in the morning. Rosini's has a special on tiramisu, so I thought we could go to dinner. You game?"

May Lou slumped. "I wish. If Lenny were here it would be great. But Mama Stancovich would not be happy and she would make Lenny unhappy. I guess I'm stuck tonight. But you should call Connie and Lula and go any way." She leaned back and finished the milk she was drinking. I got my cell out and called Connie who turned me down for a hot date with a new guy she met at the Laundromat. I called Lula and found out she already had plans with her latest boyfriend so the celebration was off. Dang.

I hung out with Mare until the demon kids and the mother-in-law roused themselves and started looking for food. Then I left and went straight to the grocery store and spent most of the remaining cash in my bank account on real food. Then I high tailed it to my apartment, put up the groceries, ordered Chinese, and spent the evening with Ben & Jerrys Chunky Monkey and House Hunters reruns.

After a while I started thinking about Ranger. I wondered what Ranger was going to think of me as his Business Manager. I was determined to do a really good job to prove to my mother and Morelli and myself that I wasn't useless or a total fuck up. I did a mental picture of mooning Morelli and sticking my tongue out at my Mother when I won the Business Manager of the year award. Childish I know. But most of all I wanted Ranger to look at me and say "Good job, Babe" and maybe I would get a real smile from him and a "Proud of you Babe".

My spoon thunked the bottom of the carton. Who was I kidding. I wanted Ranger to sweep me off my feet and carry me off to a night of love making where he doesn't suddenly disappear in the morning. And maybe some sort of romance to follow that up with, or…or something. Damn. I stood up, tossed the empty carton into the kitchen trash, and headed for bed.

*****Notes*****

More soon. The next chapter is almost done and is pretty hefty.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut.

********Chapter 3**********

2 weeks until Ranger returns…

The alarm rang the next morning at 6:30am and I calmly switched it off. It was Tuesday, my first day as Rangeman Business Manager, and I had already been up for about 45 minutes, had 2 cups of coffee (the good stuff – the Kona), fed Rex and ate a bowl of Cheerios. I couldn't sleep. For the first time in I don't know when I was really excited about going to work. This was going to be a challenge, one I could really get into. I was going to get to do every Jersey girl's dream. Shop and get paid for it. More than shop. Stalk the best bargain for the best stuff. A kill was getting what you wanted or needed for at least 50% off. Cut uniform costs WAY down, office supplies slashed, I was even going to go after this building and get it for a song. Piece of shit property management barely kept the place up to code. It certainly didn't solve any problems. I'm going to get this place for a song then fix it up Rangeman style for way less than they'd budgeted. OOOOH RAH!

Tank had sent me home yesterday afternoon with some spreadsheets covering costs as well as some budgeting numbers for purchasing and investment. I was definitely going to beat the numbers Ranger had put in. By a long shot. Buying the best and not being concerned for the cost has its place. But not for most of the stuff Rangeman did. Boy was I going to get a bonus this year!

I jumped in the shower, did my hair and makeup and put on the standard Rangeman uniform I already had – black cargo pants, black girl cut t-shirt and a pair of black pumas. I figured I wouldn't need the professional look unless I was meeting with an outside agent. I grabbed my big black purse and pawed around inside to make sure I had the essentials. Yup, makeup bag, wallet, stun gun, keys, handcuffs, tastykakes. Yup. I was ready to go.

I headed out of the apartment, stopping by the kitchen counter to say good bye to Rex. "Hey Rex!" He poked his little hamster nose out of the soup can, his little black eyes snapping and whiskers whirring. "I'm off to work. Wish me luck. I will bring some food home today, I promise!" I dropped a couple of Cheerios into his bowl and Rex rushed out to stuff them into his cheeks and retreat to his can. I slung my bag over my shoulder and swung out of the apartment.

I got to Rangeman at 7:15am, 45 minutes early. This was not a bad thing since I wanted time to look around the office with new eyes before Tank and the rest of them got there. There would still be guys around waiting for the day shift to show, but that was ok.

I got off the elevator on the 5th floor and looked around. On one side of the room near where I was standing was the monitor room where 3 guys watched over everything 24/7. It was a glassed in area with enough room for 5 or 6 people if needed. To my left was the break room, where I could see Ella had already stocked the first round of breakfast including muffins, bagels, a serving dish of eggs, one of oatmeal and various fruits. The break room had 5 tables with 4 chairs each, with a few more chairs along the walls. It was pretty stark with pearl gray walls, light gray cabinets, and black tables and chairs. No pictures. No color. Yeesh. That would have to be fixed.

I looked past the break room and noticed a door I hadn't paid any attention to before. Maybe it was some sort of storeroom. I walked over and opened the door to discover what appeared to be a small conference room that was being used as some sort of storage. The table was covered with boxes and paper, with what appeared to be bullet proof vests lying on the floor and chairs. Hunh.

I turned around and headed past the cubicles to the other end of the big room. I opened the first door to the large conference room I had seen before. It would fit 25-40 people without too much effort. Well maybe not that many Rangemen. I closed the door and moved to the next door and found a smaller conference room, maybe half as big. That brought me to the door of Ranger's office. I walked past it into a little hall to the next door which was Tank's office. Beyond that was another door which was standing open. Maybe a storage room? I walked over and went in.

No storage room. It looked like an office. The room was larger than the little conference room I found earlier, but it had no window which made it gloomy and dark, more like the storeroom I thought it was. It seemed someone worked here because there was a name plate on the desk. I walked over to pick it up and was stunned to see my name. Oh no. No no no. I am not working in this closet. Nuh unh. I stomped back out to the main room and saw a bunch of guys in the break room. I headed over.

"Morning guys. Any of you available to help me?"

Hal was one of the guys. "Yeah Steph. Tank said we should do whatever you need us to do."

"Good. I need some stuff moved around."

Hal blinked. "Sure. Just tell us what you need."

20 minutes later the furniture between the little conference room and my supposed office had been swapped. I was in the break room looking under the counter for cleaning supplies when Ella came in to restock breakfast.

"Hi Stephanie. What're you looking for?"

"Cleaning supplies." I explained to her what I was doing and why.

"You're the new business manager? I am so glad you took this job. I don't know how many times I've tried to get Ranger to look at costs but he would always say to just buy it if we needed it. Finally some common sense about costs." Hands on her hips, Ella was pretty worked up. "C'mon. Let's get that room cleaned up."

They were still wiping everything in the room down when Tank appeared in the doorway. "Why are you in here? We had already set up an office for you."

"Yeah, and it sucked."

"It was by my office. How can it suck?" Tank was frowning.

"It has no windows and feels like a prison cell."

"But…"

"You said I could have anything I needed to get the job done, right?"

"Yes, but…"

"I need this room." Tank was still frowning. "Is there a problem with using this room?"

"No, but…"

"Good. As soon as we finish cleaning, Ella and I will be going over all the supplies and current needs for Rangeman." Tank nodded. "Also, I need all expense reports run through me until we get a good handle on how we spend money and what we need to do to fill the needs of everyone. There is a basket right there" I pointed to a wicker basket on the shelf just inside my door. "I need you to tell all Rangeman to put any expense reports there for review before they go to accounting."

"But…"

"Including yours and Rangers." Tank was shaking his head. "No we always…"

"Not anymore. We have to get a handle on expenses. There are a lot of things being bought by each person and we need a way to identify what those are and make sure we have supplies on hand to eliminate as much individual spending as possible. I also need the stats in order to negotiate decent rates from rental car agencies and get discounts from the travel sites." Tank was still shaking his head. "This is what you hired me for. If you won't do this then I can't help you. You need some discipline and I intend to implement it."

Tank glared at me. I smiled at him. Next to me Ella was making little noises which sounded suspiciously like she was trying to smother laughter.

"Fine." He turned to go.

"You'll put out an email requiring everyone to turn their expense reports in here?" He froze. "Yes, I'll send the email." He was growling. He left almost slamming the door behind him.

Ella burst out laughing. "I am sooo glad you're doing this. They need to be reminded that they are not the kings of the world."

"Oh they can be the kings. It's just we're the Empresses…Empressii?" We both looked at each other and burst out laughing. We then proceeded to have a really good time cleaning and working.

That morning set the tone for the rest of the week. I was up before the alarm and at work by about 7:30 every day. I worked with Ella and the Rangeman accountant, a man named Erwin James who was tall and dark and young and ex-army. Of course. I went home every day at about 7pm with a load of worksheets and lists on the laptop tank dropped on my desk the afternoon of the first day. I worked hard and really felt like I was accomplishing a lot. I had set up a supply locker on the 3rd and 4th floors and a backup supply closet on the 6th floor filled with bulk purchased office supplies from Costco. I worked with Ella to set up contracts with farmers markets and other super markets to deliver top of the line food for really good prices. We looked into uniform costs and I sent requests for proposals to several suppliers for various aspects of the Rangeman uniform. Thursday afternoon, I met with the Rangeman attorney to review the offer we planned to make for my apartment building and to learn what needed to occur for the offer to complete. I had finished that meeting and Ella and I moved on to reviewing more budget issues related to the refurbishing of the apartment building. We had about finished for the day when Tank walked into my office.

"I thought you'd want to know that the team is at Landsthul hospital in Germany."

Ella inhaled sharply. "All of them? Are they all right?"

Tank nodded. "They're all fine. Only minor injuries, some dehydration, pulled muscles, some cuts, stitches, and one minor concussion. They'll be at Landsthul for a couple of days being checked out, then be evacuated to the states. Probably Bethesda for debriefing." Ella blew a breath. Tank looked at me. I had frozen. All I could hear in my mind was Ranger's coming home, Ranger's coming home. I cleared my throat.

"So they'll be back soon?" Tank shook his head.

"It'll be at least a couple of weeks once they're back in the states. The _bureaucrats_always want to ask the same questions at least 10 times before they let you go."

I nodded. Two weeks I thought. Two more weeks. I hope he's all right and I hope he'll be ok with me and this job.

"Go home Steph. You've got a big day ahead tomorrow. Let me know what happens with the building." Tank turned and left. I looked at the clock and realized it was almost 6pm. Lordy. Time flies when you're having fun.

Ella looked at me, "You want to take some food home tonight?" I'd been eating mostly at Rangeman this week. It was easy, good and best of all free. "Yeah. I just want to go home, pile up in front of a good movie with a beer and relax for tomorrow."

"No problem. I'll put something together and bring it right down to you." Ella bustled out of my office.

I leaned back closed my eyes and let myself think of Ranger for a minute. This was the first time I had actually let myself think of Ranger since he left. (Well, except for when I was alone with my shower massage. But that didn't really count.) I was relieved that he was all right. I had realized I was deeply in love with him when the Scrog incident happened. Watching him walk into my apartment knowing he was going to get shot and doing it anyway to save my life and the life of his daughter Julie. He had looked at me right before Scrog started shooting. That look had haunted my dreams and slid into my mind at different times like smoke. Ranger had known what was going to happen. He'd done it anyway and had accepted it as the price to keep us safe, to keep me safe. I hadn't wanted to think about what that look really meant. It was big and scary and required adult attention. I so had been avoiding the whole "adult" thing. Being adult meant being responsible and making decisions that only you were responsible for. Brrrr. Scarey. But somehow, for some reason, I'd slowly stopped avoiding "adult" in the last few months. I'd let my childhood patterns and childhood pains keep me stuck for too long. At least that's what Ellie Ross (my BFF from college) and I decided.

I'd been talking to my friend Ellie about everything since we got out of college. She was pretty good at giving advice. "2 years of counseling girlfriend, once I booted Charlie out of my bed and my life. I don't have time for that kind of crap anymore. It's amazing what I've learned and what I've been able to do without owing anyone an explanation." Ellie had been a year older than me and we had been roommates in a house with 3 other girls our last 2 years of college. She'd done like I had and gotten married right after college. Unlike me, she didn't have a big, screaming, ugly divorce. It's not that Charlie had cheated on her, but he that was uber needy. It drove her nuts. She left 6 months into it, got counseling to figure out why she stayed to start with and moved on. She's a free spirit who is an artist and some kind of computer geek. I didn't exactly know what she did, but I know she made a lot of money at it. I hadn't talked to her in…yikes. 6 months. That was a really long time for us. We hadn't really seen each other since just after college 9 years ago, but we talked all the time. We were like therapy friends for each other. I wondered what happened that I didn't hear from her. I was definitely calling her in the next couple of days. I had to brag about my new job.

I also had to call my folks and let them know about my new job. Maybe this one would make Mom feel better. Probably not. She still wanted me to call Morelli back, make up with him and marry him. No thanks. So. Tomorrow night was pot roast night. I'd call Mom and let her know that I would be there for dinner. Maybe that would get me pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Yum.

I also needed to call Mary Lou, Connie and Lula and let them know how things were going. Maybe try to set up a night out again. Yeah. That's the idea. A night out.

Ranger still slid around the edges of my thoughts. I'll think about you later, I told him, when I'm alone and there's no one likely to interrupt. Eye roll at myself. Coward.

Ella came back into the room and left me a bag with lots of food in it, so I packed up and headed home. I had a lot to do tomorrow.

I was up on Friday at 6:00am as usual even though I wasn't going in to the office today. I was meeting with Dillon, the building super at 9 to review the condition of all the building systems from plumbing to HVAC. I needed information on the current state of the building and what it would take to get it up to Rangeman speed. Dillon would know all that. I'd already told him what was in the works and that he was staying on as super, if he wanted. I was meeting with a building inspector at 1pm so he could go over what he had found in the inspection he had carried out yesterday. Hopefully that would be more ammo to use to get the building for a really good price.

I dressed in standard Rangeman for the meeting with Dillon. That lasted until about noon, so I went back to my apartment for lunch, to make a few calls and change into my professional look.

First I called Ellie. Voicemail. Figures. "Hey Ellie, long time no hear. I hope you're OK. I finally started taking your advice and making changes. I got a new job as a Business Manager! Call me!".

Next, my Mom to let her know I was coming for dinner.

"So you finally decided to call. I've called and left messages on your phone and you don't call back until now? Leona Marchotti's daughter calls her everyday."

"Mom, Sally Marchotti lives in her parent's basement. Besides, I'm calling you now. I've been busy this week and haven't been doing much but working. I'll be over tonight for dinner though."

"Working? Doing what? Vinnie's is still closed so you're not bounty hunting. Did you finally get a job at the personal products plant? Are you working a lot of overtime?"

My right eyelid was twitching. I was pressing my finger on it to try to get it to stop. "No mom. I'm not working at the personal products plant. I have a position as Business Manager at a very successful firm here in Trenton. There's a lot to do to get things into shape and I've been putting in some time to get that done. I'll tell you all about my new job when I get there tonight."

"Are you bringing Joe? Margie Valducci's daughter always brings her fiancée to dinner."

"NO! Mom, Morelli is not my fiancée and will not be coming to dinner with me ever again. Period. End of story. Please, please listen to me." My eyelid was really twitching now, and I was getting a headache. I so did not need this.

"Well I'm sure whatever problem you've caused, he'll forgive you for it if you're just nicer to him. Maybe you should call him." I was starting to hyperventilate.

"Mom, I will see you tonight and we'll talk then". I hung up. Oh god. Get a grip. She's you're mother, she does not have to live your life or approve of everyone and everything you're involved with or not involved with. Yeah right. This was another one of those adult moments. I could either suck it up and deal, or whine and pout and feel sorry for myself. Yeesh. Being adult sucked.

Ok. That conversation is over for now, Stephanie. You need to pull it together so you can meet with the inspector and the seller this afternoon. You have a sale to close on. Deep breaths. I really needed to stop letting my mother ruin everything for me. I really did.

I ate my lunch, then changed into Rangeman professional. All new items, really good quality. I loved having money. Pencil skirt, little white top, cute little jacket. Cool.

The afternoon meetings went really well. I think I made the building seller cry. He so wanted a big price, but I was prepared and justified a much lower price for the building. We went back and forth a bit, but in the end, I got the sale for 40% less than Ranger had originally budgeted for the purchase, 30% lower than market value if the building had been up to snuff. I saved enough in the price to do all the renovations and still come in a little less than what Ranger had set to buy the building.. YOWSER! I am goooood! Fist pump! Happy Dance! I looked at my watch.

Oh god. It was 5:30. I just had time to run upstairs, drop the signed contract into the building file, give Rex some hamster pellets, grab my bag and go.

I made it in my stupid car with only a couple minutes to spare. I parked, grabbed my bag and ran door where my Grandma Mazur was waiting.

"Hi Grandma. How's it going?" I slid past her into the living room.

"Stephanie, there's something you should…" grandma's voice sounded tight.

Then my Mother called in from the dining room "You were almost late. We're sitting down now so come on."

I slid around to the dining room door and froze. My father was already at the head of the table waiting for the pot roast to appear from the kitchen. It looked like almost everything else was already there. On the left side of the table was my sister Valerie, her husband Albert and one of their girls. On the right side of the table were my mother's empty chair, my sister's other daughter, Joe Morelli and another empty chair.

My grandmother stepped up behind me, whispering "He showed up about 5 minutes ago. Your mother called him and said you were willing to work things out since you got a different job now. Sorry Stephanie." She patted my arm, stepped around me and sat down at the end of the table opposite my dad.

My mother came out of the kitchen and set the pot roast down in front of my Dad. "Well sit down Stephanie. Dinner is ready."

I looked at my mother, then glared at Morelli. "What are you doing here?"

My mother screeched "Stephanie! He's your fiancée! Where else should he be? Now, you're embarrassing yourself. Sit down and have some dinner. I'm sure whatever little thing you're upset about will be easy to work out."

"Yeah Cupcake. Sit down and have some dinner. We can work everything out at home later." Morelli smirked, and patted the chair next to him. I stood frozen, not sure what to say or do next.

Grandma reached out and touched my arm. I looked at her. She was looking at me with a lot of concern. Her expression changed, she stood up and slid around to sit in the empty chair next to Morelli. "If you don't sit next to the stud, I will. You can have my chair. I like sitting next to hot men." The look on Morelli's face was hilarious. It was just a good thing he hadn't started eating or someone would have had to do the Heimlich maneuver.

I dropped into Grandma's former seat. "Thanks." Food started being passed and the clank of silverware sounded in the room. Valerie waved her fork in my direction, swallowed. "What's with the outfit?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but my mom cut in. "She says she has a new job as some sort of business administrator or something. It sounds like a lot of work that she is working overtime to do. Maybe she shouldn't be doing such a big job. Stephanie, if you want a nice office job, your cousin Arthur the plumber is looking for a receptionist. I'm sure he'd be happy to let you do it. He would probably let you have part time so you can plan your wedding and take proper care of Joe." She smiled at Morelli.

My eyelid was twitching again. "Mom, Morelli and I are not getting married and I have a Business Administration Degree. I am very qualified for this job. The position is Business Manager and comes with really good pay and benefits. I am really liking the job so please be happy for me, please?"

Mom looked dissatisfied. "Exactly what is this company that you are working for? Can they really afford to pay you?"

"Yes, they can more than afford to pay me, especially after I get all the purchasing under control." I paused and looked around the table. Everyone was looking at me expectantly, including my dad who had actually looked up from his plate. Morelli was watching me with narrowed eyes and an unhappy expression. I figured he had an idea what was coming. "I'm the new Business Manager for Rangeman Security. I even have business cards with my title on them." I waved a handful at the table in general.

My Grandma reached over and took them out of my hand and looked at them. "Well ain't that a pip. They're all embossed and they even spelled her name right! And she gets to work for all that studly beefcake!" She grinned at me.

Morelli reached over and snatched the cards out of Grandma's hand. He glared at them, then ripped them in two. "You are not working for those criminals. I forbid it!" He was now glaring at me.

"Excuse me?" Rhino mode was starting to develop. "You can't tell me who to work for or what to do!"

"Stephanie, if Joe says they are criminals, maybe you should listen to him. You can get something else." My mother was looking at Morelli with a worried look on her face. Probably afraid he wouldn't want to marry me anymore.

Morelli stood up, leaned over the table and glared at me jabbing his finger as he talked. "I do not want you anywhere near this bunch of criminals. I especially don't want you anywhere near that gangster thug they work for. He's a nut and he's dangerous!" He was starting to get a little red and was breathing a little hard.

I sat there looking at the whole scene and something snapped. I mean there was some sort of pop somewhere in my head like a bubble popped. I was done here. My mother would not be happy about my job no matter what. She'd be disappointed that it wasn't a burg job and that I was making Morelli mad.. Morelli would be out right pissed because I was working for Rangeman regardless of how good the job was or how much I wanted it. My sister just wanted her life to go smoothly and my dad, well I wasn't sure about my dad anymore. Of all of them, Grandma was the only one I thought would be on my side, but she wouldn't be able to persuade the rest.

"I think I should leave. This was not a good idea." I got up to leave only to have my arm caught in a vise like grip by Morelli.

"You need to sit down and quit acting like a child. You're upsetting your mother and there is no reason to." Morelli glared into my eyes, squeezed my arm and pulled. I pulled back.

"I said I am leaving. There is nothing for me here." I pulled my arm again and Morelli glared and just squeezed tighter and pulled me towards the table.

"Come. Sit. Down. Now." I dug in my heals. My arm was going to be very bruised tomorrow.

"No. Let me go Morelli." Morelli's mouth tightened and he squeezed harder and pulled me again.

"Morelli!" Morelli kept pulling. "MORELLI!" Morelli stopped and looked around at my dad who was on his feet, his face like carved stone. "You will let her go right now."

"Frank don't interfere! This is between Joe and…" My dad dropped his gaze to my mother, who gulped and shut up.

"Morelli, let go of her arm now. I will not tell you again." I had never seen my father's face look like that before. Morelli slowly peeled his hand off my arm one finger at a time and stepped back.

"Pumpkin, I'll call you tomorrow, all right?" My dad's voice came out soft and calm. "You go on home now, Pumpkin, you hear? I'll call you tomorrow."

I nodded, turned and fled the house. I ran outside and jumped into my piece of shit car which took 3 tries to start. I looked back at the house as I started to pull away only to see Morelli coming out the front door. I floored the gas pedal and headed back towards Hamilton Ave and home.

At first, I was numb, but by the third stop light I was furious. How could my mother do that to me? And Morelli! I wanted to hit someone and ended up pounding on the steering wheel. Tears flowing down my cheeks. OOOOOOH How could they?.

At the fourth stop light the car was running pretty ragged. I started worrying that it wouldn't make it back to the apartment. The light changed, and I put my foot on the gas. Nothing happened. I pushed harder and the car lurched forward then just rolled slowly. I aimed for the parking lot on the right side of the car and ended up stopped in front of Jerry's Antiques And Things. By now there was smoke coming from under the hood. I tried turning off then starting the car again, but all that happened was a muted poompf sound followed my some flames licking along the hood.

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! The damn thing was on fire. I grabbed my purse, threw open the door and jumped out. 15 seconds later the damn thing was almost fully engulfed in flames. That would be about the moment the car dropped off the screen at Rangeman. Just about then I heard a siren headed my way. I just stared at my car. That was the first time something had blown up or burned down in what for me was a long time. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and yanked me back about 20 feet. Morelli had caught up with me.

"Don't you have sense enough to move back? What is wrong with you tonight?" Hands on hips, he leaned forward to glare into my face.

"I'm fine. Nothing is wrong with me tonight except you're within 100 feet of me. Just leave me alone." I turned to walk towards the cop car that had just shown up. Right behind it was a Rangeman black Explorer.

"Oh great. What the hell are they doing here?" Morelli was waving at the Rangeman vehicles. "Don't tell me they are following you around? Don't you see they're criminals? My god, what is wrong with you?"

I kept walking towards the cars. Carl Costanza got out of the first cop car, followed by his partner Big Dog. "Are you all right Steph?"

"She's fine Costanza. She's with me." Morelli had the nerve to grab my arm right where he had already bruised it. I winced.

"I am not with you. Now let me go." I tried to pull my arm loose from his grip. Morelli pulled me back towards him.

"Joe, you need to let the lady go. Both of us distinctly heard the lady tell you to let go and that she was not with you."

"Back off Costanza. This is none of your business," Morelli ground out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, but it is my business. First, this is a public street and there are a lot of witnesses that heard her say to let go. Second, she's my friend. I have a personal interest in seeing her get her way in this." Carl stepped forward, his hand on his gun. "Now back off."

Morelli looked from Costanza to Big Dog to the two Rangeman guys behind them and back again. "Fine." Morelli peeled his fingers off me again. "This isn't over, Cupcake."

"Yes, it is. Deal with it." I walked away past Carl, who I said thank you to, towards Rangeman. I realized that the two guys by the car were Hal and Lester.

Lester opened his arms to me. "You OK Steph?" I walked into his hug. "I think so. I just want to go home." Hal patted my back. "That's what we're here for, Steph. No worries." They bundled me up into the Explorer and headed to my apartment. It wasn't far. Hal pulled in next to the front doors, and I slid out of the back. Lester opened the front passenger door and headed towards the doors behind me.

I turned back. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to walk you to your apartment and make sure you're safe." Lester smiled at me. He was Ranger's cousin and had the same handsome, sexy way about him, but Lester was a lot more talkative and had no problem expressing himself. "Now don't argue. Just let me do this for you as a friend. It will let me sleep better tonight, OK?"

I gave him a Burg eye roll, then nodded. "Fine." Truth be told, I was actually glad they were there and willing to help.

Lester wasted no time in getting to my apartment and going thru it. "All clear. Hal and I will hang around in the parking lot for a while until we have to be elsewhere just to discourage any unwelcome visitors." Meaning Morelli. That was fine with me.

"Ok. I really appreciate all this Lester."

He gave me a full on smile. Whoa daddy. That was a sexy smile. He wasn't Ranger, but he was definitely one hot man. He is taller than Ranger, probably about 6'2", with the same mocha latte skin and gorgeous brown eyes. He was a little broader in the shoulder than Ranger, and a little bulkier in the shoulders. His face was very handsome and expressive and he had a good sense of humor that frequently showed itself through practical jokes. Again, he was not Ranger, but still a yummy guy.

"What are friends for? Besides, you would do the same for me if I needed you to." I blinked. Well maybe not the same thing, but I would help him if he needed it. Lester reached out and brushed my hair back from my face and pushed it behind my ear. His fingers lingered along my cheek. His eyes were warm and a deep chocolate color and had a certain look in them that every woman recognizes. A bolt of lust shot thru me to my doodah as I had a panic stricken moment thinking he was going to kiss me and not knowing what I would do about it. The moment passed and he stepped back towards the door. "Lock the door behind me, Steph." I nodded. He opened the door, "Later," and the door closed. I stared at the door and a moment or two passed.

There was a knock on the door. I looked thru the peephole, saw Lester then opened the door.

"Locks Stephanie. Including the floor bolt." He wiggled his eyebrows at me. I shut the door in his face and made sure to slam the locks and the bolt in place so he would hear them. I looked out the peephole just in time to see him walk away.

I blew out a breath and looked at my watch. I felt like I had run a marathon and it was only 8pm. And I still hadn't eaten dinner. Peanut butter, olive and potato chip sandwich here I come.

*****Notes*****

Hey it's Stephanie Plum. At least one car had to be harmed during the making of this story. This should be the last of the general set up. It starts getting interesting from here. And yes, Lester has a prominent role in this one. Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEA.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut.

********Chapter 3**********

I woke up the next morning, Saturday morning, and was surprised to see I had actually slept in a little. Course the 2 glasses of cheap wine I had before I went to bed last night probably helped. After the evening I had I needed a little alcohol to unwind. I'd spent the evening being pissed at Morelli, lecturing myself about letting my mother upset me, and going "What the fuck was that?" over Lester's little move last night. I mean Lester is a good guy, and I like him, but he was one complication I didn't need. And he was Ranger's cousin which meant he was poaching. Well, sort of. Lester knew there was business to be settled between Ranger and I. Don't get me wrong, Lester is drop dead sexy, but that emotional spark was not there like it was with Ranger and Lester knew it. Which means that he was either just playing or he was lonely and tired of just sex. I was pretty sure it was the latter. No way I was playing match maker, so I would have to watch things around Lester for a while. I wanted his friendship, not a sex partner.

I looked over at the clock and as I guessed, it was almost 9am. I needed to get up and pee, but the bed felt too comfy to leave. I tried ignoring my bladder for a while in order to ponder some more, but it wasn't long before I rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

I did all the usual morning stuff in the bathroom, decided on an old t-shirt of Ranger's and a pair of sweatpants for my morning wear, then headed for my kitchen and coffee. I didn't exactly need the "cure", but a cup of that really good coffee I bought would be really good. Rex was laying on his little hamster belly in his shavings chillin' when I rounded the corner to the kitchen. I reached into his aquarium and did something that I hadn't done in a while. I ran my finger with a little bit of pressure from his head down to his butt. He stretched and wriggled, then lay there looking at me like "Well?", so I did it a few more times. When I finally stopped, he gave me a pleading hamster look. "Hey, I keep doing that and you'll be too relaxed to eat your breakfast." I reached into my fridge and pulled out one of his favorite things. Little shredded carrots and cucumbers from the deli. His eyes widened as the treat filled his food bowl and overflowed. He pulled his legs under him and made a dive into the pile of shreds. "Whoa there big guy, they're not going anywhere!" Rex ignored me by filling his mouth and chewing away blissfully.

I smiled indulgently. It was a very small thing, and most people would probably think it was stupid, but I was very happy I was able to afford to do that little thing for him. Money might not buy happiness, but it would buy a little bliss every now and then.

I turned around to make coffee, and my cell rang. It was my Dad.

"Hi pumpkin. Are you OK? Carl told me about your car and Morelli."

"I'm fine Daddy. A couple of the guys from work brought me home and stayed out in the parking lot for a while to make sure everything was fine. I'm sorry about all the trouble last night."

"Pumpkin, I've stayed out of things because I was sure you wouldn't do anything you didn't want to. Much as I hate to admit this, Edna and I had a long discussion last night and I was made aware of the type of pressure Helen has put you under. I will see that it stops. Do what YOU want to do, not your mother. I will support whatever you truly want baby. I love you."

"Oh Daddy I just want you to be proud of me." I was trying very hard not to cry.

"I am proud of you, especially when you chart your own path. You do this job and do it well, like I know you can. Just let me know if there is anything I can do to help you." I was taking deep breaths and trying to sound normal.

"Thanks Daddy. I will. I love you too." We talked a little longer and I felt better about my life than I had in a long time. My Daddy was proud of me.

After the call, I made coffee, the kona, and a bowl of cherrios and headed for the dining room and my laptop. I was going to write up a report about the deal I made on my apartment building and email it to Tank. After that, I was going to work on some of the paperwork issues I had to deal with.

I'd just finished my second cup of coffee and emailed Tank's report when my cell rang. I looked at it a moment thinking I wasn't going to talk to any of the usual suspects when the ring tone dawned on me. I snatched the phone and flipped it open.

"Ellie! I'm glad you called!"

"Well how are you too, Steph? I'm sorry I didn't call you a long time ago, but a lot has been happening and time just flew by." She sounded tired. Or like she was in pain. What the hell?

"Ellie, what's wrong? You don't sound right."

"I'm OK, well, more or less. Maybe less. I'm OK." Something was wrong.

"Ellie…What's wrong?"

"Steph, I need a favor. If you can't, I'll understand. Can I come stay with you for a while? I need a break for a few weeks."

"Of course you can come. Please tell me what's wrong…you're really starting to worry me."

"Sorry. I should've called you earlier…about 8 weeks ago, I had a bad fall and really messed myself up. I'm doing OK, but I need to get away from all the hovering here."

"Hovering? Who's hovering?"

"Charlie has been helping me, but he can't seem to understand that I'm better and need him to go home and give me back my space. He seems to feel we should just get together again. I'm being a big coward, but I just want to leave and let him go back to his life without the fight it usually takes for him to hear me."

Charlie. That explained a lot. He was really overpowering when he got into one of his helpful moods. "When do you want to come?"

"Would tomorrow be too soon? I can get a train from here and be in Trenton around 2pm. Could that work for you?"

"That would be fine. I hope you don't mind just hanging out here at my place during the day. I work days now." And no way I was taking time off now.

"Yeah, I got your message about the new job. That's no problem for me. I have my Kindle and I'm bringing some art stuff. I need to chill and I need a change of scenery too. It will let me indulge my creative side. If you buy some groceries, I'll cook while I'm there too." Ohh boy. That was even better than Ella cooking for me. Ellie was a superior cook.

"Groceries I can do. We'll do a list when you get here and I'll stock up."

"Coolness. I will see you tomorrow. Oh, I should warn you. I kind've messed up my left arm and am wearing a metal brace."

"Ellie! How bad did you mess it up?"

"Pretty bad, but I'm healing just fine. I only wear the brace now when there is a danger that my arm might get banged around. Most of the time I don't have to wear it."

"OK. I expect you to tell me the whole story when you get here."

"I will. I also expect to hear all about your new job, and the Morelli and Ranger saga."

"It's not a saga. But I'll tell you everything tomorrow. Luv yah!"

"Luv yah too! See you tomorrow." And she was gone. That's when I remembered my car had died last night. Yeesh. Now I had to find a ride.

I called Rangeman control room to see if Tank was working today. He was, so they transferred me to him.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself. I guess you heard about last night."

"Yeah. You OK? Your car was sent to Ramey's junkyard since it was completely destroyed. Any more issues with Morelli?"

"I haven't heard from Morelli and don't care if I do. But I, ah, kind've need a car or a ride tomorrow. My have a friend coming to town on the train and I need to pick her up. And I need groceries."

"I can have a car delivered. Ranger left orders that you could have any of his cars if you needed them while he was gone." Oh boy. I was tempted to ask for the Turbo both because I loved that car, but also just to show off a bit to Ellie. But I really didn't want to destroy another one of Ranger's cars and I didn't want to invoke that kind of special privileges after starting this new job. After Ranger gets back…well, we'll see.

"Could I just get a ride from someone? I really don't want to endanger Ranger's cars."

"I suppose. What time do you need this ride? I can have one of the cars pick your friend up."

"She should be here by 2pm. Can they pick me up on the way?"

"Sure. They'll be at your apartment by 1:30."

"Thanks Tank."

"No problem." Click and he was gone. Maybe I could find some way that phone manners would lower costs somehow. Hmmmm.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

I was sitting in the back seat of a black ford SUV waiting for the train to arrive. Cal (he of the snake forehead tattoo) and Woody sat in the front. We were a few minutes early, and I was getting really excited to see my friend. Elizabeth Cathryn Ross was small woman, 5 feet, maybe 5'1", half Native American, half English/Irish with very dark, almost black, wavy perfect hair, creamy soft, lightly bronzed skin, light brown eyes that glowed gold at times, and was built like a Barbie doll with a 36D bust and a nice rounded figure. At least that's what I remember. I hadn't actually seen her for about 9 years even though we talked for hours on the phone. She and I were therapy buddies, listening to and encouraging each other through everything. I wondered if she'd changed much. Men had always found her fascinating for some reason. Maybe because she was so small, but had such a big personality. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't loud or a show off or anything. She just exuded this atmosphere of toughness and intelligence. She didn't hesitate to get in someone's face if she decided she needed to. And she didn't back down. Combine that with her small stature and the brains she wasn't ashamed to have and I think a lot of men took her as a challenge. Ellie said she only appealed to their little he-man brain. The one that said "Me Tarzan, you Jane. Ooh ooh, aah, aah!" She had always had big, handsome men after her like Ranger attracted women. It was going to be a hoot watching the Rangemen deal with her. And vice-versa.

Cal brought my attention back to the train station with "There's your train." We all got out and headed for the platform. The train finally stopped moving and I looked down the train trying to spot her amid all the people getting off and on the train.

Suddenly, I saw her. "There she is, about 2 cars down." I hollered Ellie's name and started down the platform with Rangeman right behind me. I waved and yelled her name again. I saw that she had spotted me and was looking behind me with an odd look on her face. The people between us and Ellie took one look at us and moved out of the way, like the parting of the sea. I walked up to where Ellie was perched in the door of the train and grinned.

"That was impressive," She said looking at the people trying to avoid us.

"Yeah, Cal can really make an impression!" I cut my eyes at the big man with the snake on his forehead. He slung an arm around my neck and scrubbed a quick nuggie on my head. "Hey!" I said, swatting at him. He let go of me and reached for the suitcase and briefcase on the train car by Ellie's feet.

"These yours?"

"Yeah, I was just trying to figure out how to get them and me to the platform with one hand." Ellie moved a little sidewise and I saw the metal brace on her left arm for the first time. "I've tried to get the conductors attention so he'll bring the little stairs, but no luck. I'm not sure how I'm going to get down with…eeep." The last noise happened when Woody put both hands around her waist, lifted her up and off the train to set her down next to her bags. She looked up at Woody, who still had his hands on her waist, her eyes round and sparkling. She only came to about his nipple level. "Well, all righty then." Woody looked bemused, then pulled his hands back. Ellie cocked her head at me. "And just who are these fine gentleman?" Her southern accent was in full force. Both guys blushed.

"Sorry. Guys, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is Woody," I pointed at Woody, "and this one is Cal. He's not nearly as fierce as he looks either."

Ellie grinned "Hey. Glad to meet y'all." Both guys grinned, then made sure we got back to the Bronco along with Ellie's bags. I noticed Woody stood to Ellie's left shielding the side with the brace on it, his hand on her back. Ellie hesitated at the top of the stairs to the parking lot and swayed slightly. Woody leaned over slightly, slipped his arm around her waist, lifted her up and headed down the stairs.

Oh goody. We were in for a show.

"Excuse me!" Woody kept going.

"Excuse ME!" Woody kept going, stepped off the bottom stair and set Ellie gently down. She turned around, poked her finger in his chest, outraged.

"What was that all about? Hunh? I can walk just fine." Woody leaned over and said quietly, "Yes, but you're hurt and in pain. We're not. We get paid to look after people who need help. It's only reasonable that we should help you. AND you're Steph's friend." Oh boy, logic. Ellie narrowed her eyes and glared at him a moment.

"All right, but next time, ask." Ellie poked him in the chest one more time, turned and sailed off into the parking lot with Cal racing ahead to show her which car. Woody looked after her, rubbing his chest and smiling slightly.

Oh great. Not even off the train 10 minutes and she has one caught already.

We all reached the SUV and Woody opened the back door for Ellie who just looked up, way up, at the seat. She sighed, turned around to face Woody and lifted hers arms like a child asking "up". Woody got a small smile on his face and lifted Ellie up to the seat, sliding her across his chest as she went. Once she was perched on the seat, Woody slowly slid his hands off her waist.

I socked him hard in the arm. "Behave!"

Woody rubbed his arm. "I was a perfect gentleman." I gave him a berg glare, then climbed up into the truck after Ellie.

Cal started the SUV up and headed back towards my apartment.

"Anywhere you need to go on the way home?" Cal glanced up in the rear view mirror. I looked over at Ellie and noticed she was holding her arm, rubbing at it around the brace. She looked a little pinched in the face from pain.

"No. We're good. I have plenty of food at home and we can always order out." And once we were home Ellie could take a pain pill and rest a bit.

We stopped at one of the main intersections on the way home. It was known for a long cycle. Cal looked up in the rear view mirror at Ellie.

"If you don't mind my asking, what did you do to your arm?"

"I don't mind. 8 weeks ago, I fell on the sidewalk in front of my office building. When I saw the sidewalk coming at my face, I raised my arms to protect my face and landed on my left elbow." Both guys winced. I gulped.

"So you broke it right? How come you're not in a cast?" Woody had tuned in his seat to look at Ellie.

"Well, I didn't actually break my arm. I shattered it." Both guys inhaled. I stared at her.

"Shattered? What do you mean shattered? Like in a bunch of pieces?" She smiled. I was horrified. I could see a little pain on her face and she looked tired.

"Shattered as in 16 pieces, or so the doctor told me. That was after 7 and a half hours of surgery, an armature, 2 plates and I don't know how many screws to put everything back together." Cal paled, and Woody looked positively grim.

"At least you passed out right? I mean that's a lot of pain. You had to have passed out!" Cal sounded outraged.

"No. I didn't pass out and I didn't throw up. That's usually the second question I get. I'm one of these people that when something really bad happens, I set it aside and deal with what's going on. I figure I can always have hysterics later." She smiled slightly and shrugged. I was stupefied.

"Did you know how bad you were hurt? I mean did you know you'd done more than break your arm?"

"Yeah. I knew it was bad when I saw the blood and realized that some of the bone and pushed through the skin." Cal groaned and shuddered slightly. Woody looked outraged.

"You mean it was a compound fracture and you didn't pass out?" Ellie shrugged.

"Yeah. I mean I just wanted to get to the hospital and a pain shot before it really hurt. It was not a fun time. It happened around 5:15 and I was told by the surgeon around 8 that I would be in surgery in a little while. I admit I freaked a bit about that. But there really was no other choice. But of course I couldn't even do that the easy way. The surgery went fine with no problems, but an hour after I was in recovery I stopped responding and started having serious breathing problems. The next I knew it was 3 in the afternoon and I was in ICU." Ellie shook her head. "luckily I don't remember any of that." I just stared at her. Woody and Cal sat in front and looked grim.

"How long were you in the hospital?" The thought of a long hospital stay made me shudder.

"5 days. But that's not the worst of it." We stopped at another light and this time Cal and Woody turned around to stare at her with me.

"What can be worse?"

"10 days later I was back in ICU with pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. I was stuck in the hospital 12 days that time." She shrugged again and smiled a little. Someone honked at us and Cal whipped back around to continue driving. Woody continued to look at Ellie. He looked awed and appalled at the same time. He reached over and placed a hand on Ellie's thigh.

"Are you saying that you had blood clots in both lungs?" I was just stunned. I couldn't seem to say anything.

"Yeah, but most of them were in the right lung" Ellie cut her eyes at me and must've realized I was about to pass out. "I was pretty sick for a while, but I'm all better now. Really. I'm good." I felt a little light headed. She could have died! Then I realize what she said.

"Most of them? What do you mean most of them?"

There were…" Ellie looked at my face. "more than one. More in the right than the left." I felt like I'd been punched. Cal had his blank face on, and Woody was rubbing her leg and looked concerned and thoughtful.

"You are a really tough little lady." Woody patted her leg.

We arrived at my apartment and Cal parked next to the doors. Woody climbed out then opened the door in the back and helped me down, then lifted Ellie out.

"Y'know, I could start liking that." Ellie smiled up at Woody. "Thank you." Woody smiled. Yup. Hook, Line and sinker.

"My pleasure. If there is ANYTHING else I can do for you, please don't hesitate to let me know. Steph has my number." I rolled my eyes. Geez.

Woody collected the bags and followed us up stairs where he stashed the bags in the foyer, then did the usual apartment clearing stick. Ellie and I stood in the kitchen until Woody appeared.

"It's all clear. Be sure to throw all the locks and the bolt when I leave. Call if you need anything. Oh, Tank said to tell you they'd have a car pick you up at 7:30 in the morning and take you to work Steph." And he was gone.

Ellie looked at me, and raised both eyebrows. "They're a bit over protective of me."

"Yah think? At least they're easy on the eyes. Talk about hotties! Well, except for the tattoo." Ellie was leaning against the counter grinning and looking tired.

"Cal looks really scary, but he's actually a sweetie. You look tired. Are you hurting? Shouldn't you take a pain pill? You do have pain meds don't you?" I didn't like her looking like she was about to fold up.

Ellie sighed. "Yeah, I have Percocet in my purse. But if I take one I'll be high as a kite inside 15 minutes and passed out in 30. If I take half a pill, I'll be high as a kite and falling asleep every time I stop moving. And Tylenol doesn't do anything."

"So take a quarter." I reached around and handed her the purse.

"Yeah, OK fine. I'll try a quarter." She fished around in her purse and pulled out a bottle of white pills. They were large enough for her to break them up in her fingers. Making a face, she managed to break one into quarters. I handed her a bottle of water from the fridge and she swallowed the piece of a pill. "So what's on the agenda for the rest of the day?"

"Well, ah, my car sort of burned up Friday night so I thought we could hang out around here and catch up." I smiled as brightly as I could. "I got DVDs and food or we could order something, sit around on our PJs and just chill."

"Another one? How do you do that?" Ellie laughed and shook her head. "You are something else. DVDs, PJs and delivery sound good to me. I have some stuff in my suitcase we can do for desert that I thought you'd like. Let's do it."

The next few hours went buy quickly, going through Ellie's suitcase, looking through her art stuff, sitting on the couch watching TV in our boy shorts and undershirts and just talking like we used to in college. Ellie had pulled off the brace and had put an ice pack on her arm several times. She said it helped with the pain and swelling. I caught her up on all my melodramas, and she caught me up on her life. We talked and laughed until we suddenly realized it was almost 7. Both our stomachs growled at about the same time setting us both off laughing again.

"I guess we should eat something. We can order from Pino's, or the Greek place or Thai, or Chinese…"

"Chinese! I haven't had any in so long. Almond chicken, pot stickers and some ribs! I'm hungry!" She was bouncing up and down. It was nice to be with someone who ate like I did. I grinned.

"I'll call the place and have them deliver. It won't take long cause they're around the corner."

**** Ellie's POV ****

I watched as Steph ordered for us. She hung up and smiled. "It's on it's way." She really had turned into a very pretty lady. Maturity had turned the young soft lines of her baby face into beautiful angles and curves. I really would have to do her portrait while I was here. I started to ask her about posing when the cell in her hand rang.

"Oh crap. It's my sister. What's going on now." She didn't look happy. I hoped her sister wasn't going to go after her because of the other night.

"You want me to answer it? I can say you're in the shower or something. I know, I'll tell her you're in bed with a couple of guys and can't be disturbed!" I grinned at her.

"Not funny. She'd probably believe you. I better talk to her." The phone stopped ringing , then started again. "There's money in my purse if the food comes." Right. I would pay for the food since I was the one mooching off her for the time being.

Steph talked, well "discussed" just sort of an argument, the events of the other night. Then there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." I went to the kitchen and grabbed my wallet out of my purse and opened the door. My eyes collided with a wide blue clad chest. I looked up into a very handsome Latino face. The man had wide brown eyes, longish dark brown hair, looked to be about 6'2" tall, was muscular without being muscle bound, and had a surprised look on his face and a couple of bags in his hand. He was wearing a sapphire blue Henley shirt and a pair of faded jeans that highlighted a really hot male body. I managed to close my mouth before drool leaked out.

**** Lester's POV ****

I pulled into Steph's parking lot and got out of my car carrying a bag of rented chick flick DVDs and another bag of donuts – Boston Cremes and some others. It wasn't unusual for me to spend time with Steph when Ranger was out of town, but I was doing it this time because Steph had a friend staying with her who may have trouble. Woody and Cal had alerted Tank that this lady had been injured and tried to say she fell, but they didn't think the injuries we from a fall. Bobby agreed after hearing what the lady told them. The injuries sounded too extensive to be from a simple fall. Tank wanted someone to keep an eye on Steph's place tonight given that and the Morelli thing. I volunteered since I was off tonight and had the next couple of days off. I was also doing it because I was lonely, all though I would never admit that. I was a bit envious of Ranger and his relationship with Steph.

I got off the elevator, went to Steph's door and knocked. I could hear voices from inside, then suddenly the door flew open and this little gorgeous pocket Venus stood there looking surprised. She was tiny – a good foot or more shorter than me and built. I mean really built. She was wearing boy boxer shorts, and an undershirt and I suspected nothing else. Her breasts looked full and round with peaked nipples and would fill my hands perfectly. I wanted to squeeze them. Her hair was loose, long and wavy falling past her shoulders and was the most beautiful color of dark brown. Her skin looked creamy soft and had a bit of a bronze tint to it. Her eyes were large, sparking and an intense color of gold. I felt my body tighten, my breath caught and I had an itch to pick her up and kiss her. God! Was this Steph's friend?

Then she cocked her head, smiled up at me, opened her mouth and spoke. Her voice was smooth as silk with a southern accent that made me think of hot chocolate and Kahlua. I almost grabbed her. "Well. You don't look like Chinese food."

*****Notes*****

I case you're questioning Ellie's injuries, the timing and sequence of events, I can guarantee you they are true to life because that is exactly the sequence of events that I went through myself. Her injuries are accurate as is the treatment of them. And yes, Lester has met his babe. Ellie's injuries play a special part in the storyline, so pay attention. Ranger will be home soon. Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut.

********Chapter 4**********

**** Ranger's POV ****

The debriefing was taking too long. I had started out normally, then about 3 days ago, a new guy was added into the questioning mix. We were told he was from the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, which meant the part of the Senate that looked into a lot of the black ops that went on. I assumed he was doing some sort of routine audit. Then his questions got strange. And we were all getting them. The last session had me beyond furious and into cold determination. Now I was doing something I'd never done before. I was standing outside General Austin's door planning to go in and demand answers. He answered my knock and I entered, walked to the chair in front of his desk and sat down. I did not wait for an invitation to sit. I sat.

The General looked up, raised an eyebrow at me, "What's got your shorts in a knot, Colonel?" He looked me in the eye and waited.

"The questioning that is going on is out of bounds. We are done with the debrief and will be leaving for home tonight." I looked at him, carefully keeping my expression clear and waited for his response. It wasn't long.

"The questioning? What are you talking about? Your debrief should be about over anyway." The General glared at me.

I glared back. "It's not over. That little rodent from the senate committee is asking questions that have nothing to do with the operation or its outcome and everything to do with our personal lives and identities. He's even insinuated that Ramos is some sort of plant from the Cuban government. We're done."

The General stared at me blankly for a moment. "What rodent?"

"Arthur Mooreshead. He is representing the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I was told it was routine and that he had been cleared to talk to us." I gave the General my best hard stare. I was having problems keeping my temper. I was within a millimeter of pulling everyone out and heading back home now.

General Austin stared at me a moment longer, turning red, then he moved suddenly to stab the on button in his speaker phone and demanded his assistant bring one Arthur Mooreshead to his office, immediately regardless of his current status. We waited in silence for about 15 minutes, then there was a disturbance in the outer office. The General's office door opened and Mooreshead was escorted by 2 large army MPs into the General's office and put in the other chair in front of the desk. Then the MPs left.

Mr Mooreshead brushed his jacket sleeves down and started to bluster. "What is the meaning of this? Do you realize I am here at the behest of the Senate Select Committee…"

General Austin's fist hit the desk top. "No, you are not. Any request from any Senate committee to have access to the debriefing of black ops operatives has to go through my office for approval. Since I haven't had any such request nor given any such approval, you can NOT be representing the committee. Now what the fuck are you doing here and who let you in?"

Mr Mooreshead flicked imaginary lint off his sleeve, then looked the General in the eye. "General, I believe this a discussion that should be private." He cut his eyes at me. "It concerns National Security and I don't know that anyone other than your self has clearance." He looked smug.

The General was pissed. "This involves the questioning you have been doing with a group of operatives that I don't believe you've even been cleared to even know existed. As far as I and this organization is concerned, anything you have to say right now can be said in front of the Colonel. His clearance is almost as high as mine.

Mooreshead looked patronizing, shook his head and said, "Very well. I was given the task of looking into these operatives" his lips curled into a sneer as he said the word, "and their activities on behalf of this country. We believe that there is good reason to assume these operatives," there was that sneer again, "may be endangering National Security. Their refusal to do their duty and sign their contracts proves they are." He leaned back looking smug, as if he'd just saved the world.

The General exploded. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Mooreshead looked pained. "There is no need to shout. It has come to our attention that certain operatives," sneering again, "have strong ties to foreign governments that mean harm to America. We believe their refusal to sign continuing contracts means they are moving forward with a conspiracy to disrupt this country from within. With their skills they would be able to accomplish this with relative ease. We need to remove these people from these operations, interrogate them with whatever means are needed to get the information we need from them, and see that they are dealt with accordingly."

I swear steam was erupting from the General's ears. Of course I wasn't any less angry. But I wasn't going to waste time on angry out bursts. I was just going to snap his neck. The General began to shout, and I held up my hand, looked Mooreshead in the eye, used my best intimidation face and asked my own questions.

"Who is 'our attention', what is your evidence, and which operatives are you referring to?"

Mooreshead eyed me, shifted in his chair, swallowed, then looked at the General and acted as if I didn't exist. "Several of these men have strong ties to Cuba," he cut his eyes at me, "others have ties back into gangs and drug communities many of which have ties to South American and Middle Eastern countries trafficking in illegal drugs and whose governments are intent on harming this country. Most or all of them may not even be American Citizens. In the course of this latest adventure of theirs, they have admitted to having relationships with people who are Muslim and very likely have ties to terrorists, maybe even Al Qaeda. This is unacceptable when they are supposed to be representing the US in affecting foreign affairs. They should be jailed until such time as we can prove their infamy and be convicted of their crimes." Mooreshead was breathing heavily, his eyes were glazed and he seemed energized by his tirade. I was dumb founded and a cold feeling was curling around inside me. Ties to Cuba? What the fuck?

The General looked shocked and furious. I was contemplating how close Mooreshead was to instant death. This was the most insulting, disgusting thing I had ever heard. I took a firm grip on my temper and asked him, "And who is your source or inspiration for this news?" in my softest voice to try to get him to answer.

Mooreshead smile and puffed up. "I am assistant to Senator Issac Freeman of Arizona. He has been given information from our own confidential sources, and we intend to put a stop to these un-American activities!"

I looked at the General. I was stunned and in disbelief that this man had gotten into a secure facility, and had actually managed to get close to me and my men. I was also furious over the allegations and that cold feeling was now a full on cold alert in my gut. I waited for what the General was going to do before I made my own decisions.

The General reached over and opened the intercom again. "Please send a full security detail to my office immediately. We have a major security breach under way. I repeat, we have a major security breach under way."

Mooreshead looked smug, smiled and said "I'm glad you understand the situation here General. This will really go a long way for you and your career politically."

General Austin folded his hands on the desk, looked the man in the eye. Mooreshead seemed to have no idea he was in deep trouble. He sat in his chair, chin up, cut his eyes at me and smirked. The General raised an eyebrow. There was a knock on the door and the General barked permission to enter. 4 military police came into the room. The General held up a finger motioning them to wait a moment. Then he re-focused on Mooreshead. "You sir are despicable. None of the men you have defamed are anything other than second, third and more generation Americans. All of them have served their country to great detriment to themselves and should receive this nation's highest honors because of it. All of them have been cited by 2 different presidents for their valor and their service to their country. All of them have passed and re-passed deep psychological and background checks on themselves and their families. Before any of them even came close to this program, I knew what they had for breakfast the day they were born and every day after that. You sir, are not fit to clean vomit off their shoes. As for your vaunted clearance, you are in violation of at least 20 security laws and regulations that I can think of off the top of my head, including the Patriot Act. You are going to be held by a military court until such time as an investigation into your activities has been completed, at which time you might be handed over to civilian courts…or you might not. Get him out of my sight!"

He motioned at the police. They grabbed Mooreshead who started thrashing and yelling about getting even and how it was going to go bad and more, until one of the MPs "accidently" punched him in the gut. They then drug him out of the room and closed the door.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. This could not be happening. Not in America, not in 2011. "General, what the fuck is going on?"

General Austin was rubbing his eyes. "I'm not sure. This is the kind of political shit that has been going down for the last 2 years. It's gotten worse in the last 6 months or so. There are a lot of domestic forces moving to try to grab power and prevent anyone from stopping them before they get what they want. What they want is power. A lot of it. They've allied themselves with the extreme right wing because it is espousing the removal of the safeguards and safety net that this country has built into the federal government. This stunt was tried about 3 months ago with another branch of special ops. It failed. They're trying again with us. It's an attempt to remove power from certain people in the government. It's 21st century McCarthyism."

"So what is being done? Anything? I will not let my men of my family suffer because someone else has a hard on." I will do whatever I have to including killing if need be. This was not going to go off in my direction.

"Something is being done. The Director has something planned, even underway. I don't know what, but I know it's true. I've also asked the Director to ensure you and your team are NOT subjected to this." The General rubbed at his face. "I honestly don't know what to do about it myself. Your identities are kept a close secret. How this guy got in here and what the deal is with the Senator, I can only speculate. I will be investigating how this guy got in here and who authorized it. I'm going to have to clean house. I will apprise the Director of what's happened and demand coverage for you and your team. I can only hope the Director has a good plan in place."

I nodded. I'd never met the Director of course, but Section 31 was well run as were all the operations and I knew the Director had been personally involved in a lot of the planning. But however much I trusted the Director to cover Section 31, we were no longer part of it. Rangeman would have to set up our own coverage as well. I would also re-double efforts at identity management at Rangeman for all of us. I needed to talk to the core team and my partners to decide how best to respond to this. I had a feeling there was a lot more going on than just a Senator wanting power.

The General sighed. "In the meantime, finish up your reviews today, and I will release you and your team to leave. You are free and clear as far as your contracts are concerned, so you are off the hook for more missions. You can go as soon as I van get the paperwork to you."

"Thanks General. Please keep me posted on this issue and if you hear anything that might affect me or anyone on my team." I held to my hand to him.

He grasped my hand and shook it. "Good luck Manoso. I may have to bail on this place if this keeps up. I may need a job if I do." He was smiling.

"If that happens, feel free to call me. I can always use a new recruit." The General snorted.

"Get out of here Manoso." I saluted him, turned and left his office for the last time.

*****Notes*****

Ranger will be home soon with no more contracts. Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Sorry this update took so long. I started a new job and then got caught up in some other really great Plum fanfiction, then this chapter gave me fits for some reason. Anyway, here it is and Ranger is back!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

********Chapter 6**********

**** Lester's POV ****

_Previously…Then she cocked her head, smiled up at me, opened her mouth and spoke. Her voice was smooth as silk with a southern accent that made me think of hot chocolate and Kahlua. I almost grabbed her. "Well. You don't look like Chinese food." _

What? Chinese food? I was confused. I don't like to be confused. God she was gorgeous. I just looked at her and waited for her to say something else. The elevator dinged and from down the hall came a guy who looked like a college student carrying in large brown paper grocery bag. My Venus, mi diosa, turned her head and smiled at him as he walked up.

"Now you look like Chinese food," and she smiled at him like he was the best thing she ever saw. I glared at the kid. Not that he saw me after he looked into her smile.

The kid stammered. "Ah, ah, yeah. Delivery for Stephanie Plum? She, she ordered Chinese?" He looked at her chest and I swear the kid was starting to drool. I sifted around to get his attention and glared some more. He still didn't see me.

Mi diosa reached out and took the bag from his hand, smiling the whole time. "Yes, that was us. We're hungry. I am so glad y'all were so fast! Thank you!" She looked at the ticket, set the food on the floor, opened a little purse and pulled out 2 twenties and a Five and handed it to the kid. "Here yah go."

The kid glanced at the money, then looked again. "Oh but the bill was only $36.95!" He tried to hand her back the $5.

"No, darlin'. You keep it. You deserve it for getting here so fast." She smiled and curled his fingers back around the bill. "Now you go on and have a good evenin'. Bye now." She patted him on the arm, and he turned and went back down the hall a bit shell shocked. Then she turned around and started to pick up the food she had set on the floor. I got there first.

I smiled at her. She looked back at me like she was trying to decide what to say, then Stephanie yanked the door open the rest of the way.

"Lester! What are you doing here? What's in the bags? Is that our food? Who paid for that?" She stepped forward and grabbed me by my belt and pulled me into her apartment and shut the door.

I hugged Steph and kissed her cheek. "I'm visiting, food and DVDs, yes, and your friend paid for it."

Grinning she shoved me into the hall. "So go put all that on the table so we can eat, Lester. We're starved!"

Mi diosa's eyebrows both went up, and she looked at Steph. "Lester." Steph nodded. "That Lester?" Steph nodded. Mi diosa looked me up and down from the top of my head straight down to my shoes and back again. I wondered how I was going to adjust myself without looking crude. My pants were too tight. Then she looked at Steph and made some sort of face. Steph responded. What followed was a quick series of facial gestures which ended when I reminded them I was standing right there. "How about an introduction since she seems to know who I am?"

Steph looked surprised, then a bit embarrassed as she remembered her burg manners. "Sorry. Ellie, this is Lester Santos, one of my favorite Rangemen. Lester, this is Ellie Ross, my BFF from college." I was watching mi diosa when Steph introduced me, and I swear I saw the oddest expression on her face. It was just a split second, really a micro expression, and then it was gone and the sound of her voice echoed in my head and all I could see was her.

"Hey, Lester." Ellie smiled at me. I smiled back and thought I would get lost just looking into her beautiful eyes.

Steph brushed past me, snatched the Chinese food out of my hand and said "Hey is southern for Yo, Lester," grinned and headed for the table.

**** Steph's POV ****

Good grief. I paused in eating my General's Chicken and watched Lester watching Ellie. He was looking at her like she was the last piece of cheesecake and he was starving. Ellie was basically ignoring the look and acting like he was just another guy instead of a very large, muscular, gorgeous, sexy guy who couldn't stop looking at her. To his credit, Lester was at least looking at her face more than he was her chest, but he was looking. And from the way he was shifting in the chair, he was getting a little hot and bothered just looking. Apparently, Ellie had Lester hooked.

I decided to break it up a little. "So what DVDs did you bring?" I waved my fingers toward the bag. No answer. "Lester?" No answer. "Lester!" I kicked him under the table.

"OW! What?"

"The DVDs?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Lester passed me the bag. "I got some animated stuff that you like. A couple of Ice Age, some Panda thing, and a sci-fi thing too." That got Ellie's attention.

"Panda? You got Kung Fu Panda? Seriously? I wanna see that one!" I handed it to her.

"Sounds good to me. I wanted to see that in the theater but Morelli wouldn't have anything to do with it." Course, we never actually went to any other movies either. Or restaurants other than Pino's, or even a real date for that matter.

"Morelli is a carbuncled dick and you know it." Ellie waved her fork around. "He needs an enema."

Unfortunately for Les, Ellie said all that with her smooth southern drawl just as he was swallowing one of the pot stickers. He choked and coughed and wheezed alarmingly for a bit. "What did you say?"

I whacked Lester on the back as he tried to get his breathing back. If he was going to hang around Ellie, he was going to have to get used to her way of saying what she was thinking. The girl was scary smart. Sometimes I didn't understand half of what she said especially when she talked about work.

"Morelli isn't that bad. You shouldn't…"

"The hell he's not! I mean, HELLO! Who was it I had all those long conversations with you about? He is pain in the ass and you know it. And don't talk to me about him changing or any of the other bullshit he fed you. People don't change who they are without wanting to and without A LOT of hard work. I didn't hear a hint of any such an effort on his part during all our hours of talking. He's a cop and a first class hard assed jerk."

"Ellie…"

"No. You can't change someone who doesn't think they need changing. Just remember what I said about him if we see him and he doesn't mind his manners. I wasn't kidding and you know it."

I sighed. Ellie had basically said she was going to castrate Morelli if he messed with me. Ellie was a force of nature when she was riled up. I'd seen that in action when we were in college. "Yeah. I remember." Lester had stopped choking and was looking back and forth between Ellie and me. "Let's go watch the Panda, OK?"

Ellie looked at me a moment. "Sure. We have any ice cream?"

The three of us settled on my couch to watch the movie with our favorite B&J flavors, me with Chunky Monkey and Ellie with Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Lester wedged his butt between Ellie and me, and proceeded to throw his arms across the back of the couch. Lester and I have a pretty close friendship and express it through hugs and horse play, but I wasn't sure how Ellie felt about it. I figured that she would let Lester know if he was out of line. I didn't notice until later that Lester had dropped his arm down to lay across her shoulders and was playing with her hair.

After the movie ended, the three of us cleaned up. Lester had stepped out of the apartment to take the trash to the dumpster so I took that time to see how Ellie felt. "Are you OK with Lester, Ellie? He's really just a big softie. I'll tell him to back off a bit."

Ellie closed the dish washer and took a deep breath. "I remember our conversations about him, Steph. I know he's a player and I don't play those games. I mean, he's a really hunky guy, he's some really good eye candy and I do like him a lot, but…he's a really big guy. I need to know if he'll take no for an answer if that's what he gets."

"Ellie, I trust him with my life. He's one of my best friends and I trust him completely. He has a strong moral code and would NEVER do anything that was not completely consensual. If you want him to knock it off, tell him. He will."

Ellie looked at me for a moment. "I believe you. I'm sorry if I seem a little tense about him. You know I volunteer at the Women's shelter back home. I've seen a lot of really charming guys who can go from 0 to nuts in 3 seconds flat. I'm a little cautious."

I sighed. "He's also here to guard me, us really. Ranger's out of town and he always makes sure the guys are watching. Lester does that by entertaining me."

Ellie started to reply when Lester popped back into the apartment carrying a duffel bag.

**** Lester's POV ****

I volunteered to take out the trash to give myself a chance to see if there was anyone in the parking lot that needed attention and to retrieve the duffel bag with my bed in it. Steph didn't know it yet, but I was crashing in her living room. I wasn't about to try to sleep on that rickety couch of hers and I wasn't going to sleep on the concrete floor if I could help it, carpet or no carpet. I mean I have to do that on missions but that doesn't mean I have to any other time.

I walked to back up the stairs and down the hall to Steph's door. I opened it and swung inside, making sure to throw all the bolts on the door behind me.

"Well ladies, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to crash. Dibs on the shower!" I grinned at them. They both looked at me like I had two heads.

Steph recovered first. "Les, what are you talking about? You're not staying here!"

"Yes I am." I waggled my eyebrows at her. "I mean, 2 hot ladies at one time? Besides, I am not going to answer to the boss if something happens while he's gone. We're shorthanded and that means there is no one to relieve me later. So the logical solution is for me to crash in here." I walked on into the dining area as I was talking and proceeded to remove a sleeping bag, air mattress and electric pump from the duffel.

"Oh no you're not!"

"Oh yes I am!" I plugged in the pump and started to fill up the air mattress.

"Lester!"

"Steph, I am going to sleep out here on the floor so that I can make sure you ladies are not bothered. You deserve to sleep without problems and Morelli has not exactly been reasonable lately." I really didn't want to argue with her.

"Morelli hasn't bothered me since Friday and he would never hurt anyone anyway."

Ellie choose that moment to pipe up. "He's called you at least three times that I know of today. I suspect more times that you've ignored. I am actually uncomfortable NOT having some back up if he decides to try something tonight. You can't ignore the possibility that he might. It's a good idea, Steph." I could have kissed her.

Steph looked at Ellie a moment then threw up her hands, then glared at me. "Fine, but if you snore…"

I was insulted. "I don't snore!" I finished filling the mattress, then slid it into the sleeping bag and finished zipping up the bag. I pulled an old quilt and a pillow out of the duffel. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I am going to get some sleep." I sat down on the bed and started removing my shoes and socks.

"Fine. C'mon Ellie." Mi diosa didn't move. I was looking right into her eyes and pulled my shirt out of my jeans. She was watching and seemed to be enjoying what she was seeing.

"Ellie!" I pulled my shirt over my head and started to unbutton my jeans. She was still looking at me and I know I was smiling at her.

Steph grabbed her wrist and yanked. "Ellie Ross you come on!" Steph dragged Ellie to the bedroom. "Hey I can look! Stephie…" the rest was lost as the bedroom door slammed. I chuckled to myself and buttoned my jeans back. I had no intention of being caught in just a pair of boxers if Morelli decided to make a late night visit. I moved my bed around so that anyone would have to go over me to get into the apartment, checked that all the bolts including the floor bolt were thrown and went to bed. Now if I could just stop thinking about my diosa being in bed just a few feet away.

**** Steph's POV ****

So the rest of the week went pretty well. That Sunday night began a routine for us. Lester would give me a ride home in the evening. Then he would suggest movies or we would watch a game or go out to Pinos, then he would settle in on my floor and keep watch over us. The next morning he would take me to work, leaving Ellie to have some alone time reading or doing art or whatever she wanted at my place. She said that was exactly what she needed since she'd had almost no time to herself since the fall, between the hospital, friends and family she felt smothered. Lester felt that letting her stay alone was fine as long as she threw the floor bolt after we left. Morelli was interested in me and would know I wasn't there. He did insist that she keep a panic button and use it if anyone tried to bother her. I also pretty sure that there were Rangeman patrols driving by the apartment on a regular schedule during the day.

One nice thing about having Ellie staying with me was she would cook dinner. I mean that girl can cook! She said she was happy to do so since real cooking meant more than one person could eat and she never got to really cook anymore. Lester was more than willing to eat everything Ellie and I didn't, and kept the kitchen cabinets well stocked with his favorites.

It was also interesting to watch Lester trying to woo Ellie. He seemed pretty intent on getting her to accept him using all sorts of little gestures. Lester spent a lot of time just touching Ellie. Just little touches, a hand to the back, brushing her hair back, rubbing her arm, standing close. He also kissed her a few times. Ellie didn't shy away or tell him to stop. We talked and she told me that she wants to like Lester, but doesn't want to get into a casual sex relationship. Sex complicates things because no matter how hard you try, emotions always get involved. I can understand that. I have the same problem with Ranger. Unfortunately, I also learned with Ranger that kissing and touching can also involve emotions too.

Anyway things went well. I'd had a ton of calls from my Mom and Morelli but after listening to the first few, I let them go to voice mail, then deleted them without listening. I knew they were the same ol' same ol' and I was done with that. Ellie showed me how to turn off the ringer for them so I wouldn't be constantly quieting the phone. I couldn't quite make myself block them all together.

Work was also going really well. I had looked into why there seemed to be hours of paper work required by both the guys in the field and the management team for everything they did. I put together plans for most of the paper work to be handled via applications over the web. There was a lot of ways and a lot of existing applications that would relieve the paperwork situation. Hector, Hal and Silvio in Miami helped with a lot of the research and web security reviews of my ideas. Between us, we put together a plan to automate timesheets, reporting, status reports, site inspections, and a number of other functions and costed out a proposal for all of the guys in the field to be given iPads to log their work from the field. That way information got input as soon as it was available and was then available immediately to supervisors and managers in the field and the office. We submitted the plan to Tank on Thursday for approval.

Later in the same day after the plan hit his desk, Tank appeared in my office. He walked in with a folder and sat in the chair across my desk from me. "This plan is really good. It would take us to the next level and allow us direct access to real time information. I floated some of the ideas in front of the tactical planners, and they think there are other things that can be done like real time situation reports, tactical plan updates directly into the field, and more. This has opened a whole new way of thinking for us."

I was proud and excited. "So does that mean we're going to implement it?"

Tank smiled. "I think we will. Ranger will have to review and give his approval as well, but I can't imagine any reason he wouldn't go for this. It will make a big difference for us. You did good Steph."

"I had a lot of help…"

"Yeah, but the initial idea was yours and you followed through on it." He looked at me for a moment. "I think once we get the offices organized and implement some of these ideas, there will be other areas I want you to look at. Like the investigations area."

I wasn't sure where he was going, but I had enough to work on for the time being I decided to just let that sit. Tank would tell me what he was thinking when he was ready. I was really liking reporting to Tank. He didn't say a whole lot most of the time, but when he did it was more than worth listening to. He respected me and let me have free rein where my job was concerned. I guess because I kept him up to date with what I was doing. Besides, I still wasn't sure what Ranger was going to say or do about me being the Business Manager when he got back. And reporting to Ranger would probably not be the best arrangement. Speaking of which…

"Any indication when Ranger will be back?" My heart was beating a bit fast.

"From what I'm hearing, they should be released in a couple of days. I'm not sure how quickly Ranger will come back into the office. It depends on how intense the mission was this time. He may need some time to decompress." He grimaced.

I wasn't sure what to say next. I wanted to ask what he meant by decompress. What did he do and where did he go? Did he have a convenient woman stashed somewhere to help him "decompress"? Wow that thought really hurt. Or maybe he went somewhere and beat things up until he felt better. Breaking things was supposed to be cathartic. It was certainly cathartic when I threw all the china and crystal at "the dick" when I caught him doing it on my dining room table before we were married 15 minutes. Another part of me was afraid to find out. I was also afraid to ask too many questions because I had a feeling that the fact that I had been asking would get to Ranger. He was very private and if my questions crossed some line I didn't know about I would not only have a problem with my best friend, I could lose my job. I liked my job. I decided to go to denial land and pretend I didn't hear that.

"Well, I think I am going to call it a day. Ellie has been working on some big art thing at my apartment all week and she called earlier to say she'd finished it. She said she made 3 types of banana bread to celebrate and I want some!"

Tank grinned. "Be sure she makes a bunch of it. We sure enjoyed that red velvet cake she made the other day. Best get all that we can before Ranger gets back and bans it from the building." He shook his head about that. "Lester should be back and ready to take you home. How are you doing with him standing guard so far?"

"I'm not happy about the need for it, but Ellie and I talked about it and as long as Morelli is being a dick head it's probably a good idea. She's my guest and I want her to feel safe and Morelli is not her problem."

Tank nodded. "Go home and relax. There's just one more day until the weekend. If you two want to go anywhere over the weekend, use one of the Rangeman cars, or one of Ranger's so you have a good ride."

**** Lester's POV ****

As I settled onto my air mattress bed for a night of listening to the rat run in his wheel and trying to not think about Ellie lying in bed less than 25 feet away, I felt frustrated with where I was with her. She let me touch her and I even got a few kisses and some cuddling, but what I really wanted was no closer. I wanted her BAD. And I don't think a quick toss around the mattress was going to do it this time. This little woman had me hooked. Completely. If this is what Ranger felt around Steph, it was no wonder he was a little nuts where she was concerned. At least Ellie didn't have a boyfriend to run to…at least I didn't think so. She better not. I would have to maim anyone who put their hands on her. I didn't want to think about the possibility that her injuries were caused my someone putting their hands on her. I was furious just thinking about the possibility.

I shifted around again trying to find a position where I could fall asleep and not be frustrated. It wasn't working. I shifted again. Then again. I looked at my phone. It was 1am. God. I gave up, sat up and began putting on my shoes and socks. I might as well do a quick few turns around the building and the lot to check on things. Maybe if I move around some, it will help me sleep. I pulled my shirt on, let myself out the door and locked it behind me.

**** Ellie's POV ****

I woke up, not sure what it was that pulled me out of sleep. I lay still and listened to the sounds of the apartment. I had been here long enough to be familiar with normal sounds. Then I heard it. Someone was moving thru the apartment towards the bedroom. It wasn't Lester. I wasn't sure why I knew that, but I did. I had a bad feeling about this. I put my good hand on Steph's mouth and started to shake her. Her eyes opened and she looked at me. I cut my eyes to the door. There was a noise like someone stumbled over something. I put my finger to my lips in the standard quiet gesture, rolled over and stood in one movement and grabbed the gun that was on the nite stand next to the bed with my good hand. Steph followed behind me with the same quiet motions. I pulled her with me with my bad arm to stand along the wall along where the door would open. This would give us some cover and give a little advantage so that I could get the gun in who ever's face was headed our way before he saw us.

The bedroom door swung open and a large man was outlined in the faint light from the night light in the bathroom. "Cupcake?" Steph switched on the big mag lite she kept next to the bed (I'd have to remember to ask her why) and kept it pointed at the ceiling to illuminate the room. He suddenly realized that he had a glock pointed right at his head and my hand was not shaking. I had no intention of lowering the gun.

"Morelli? What the fuck are you doing in here?" She sounded pissed and a little scared at the same time. Good. Because if she tried to tell me he wouldn't hurt us and we should just talk to him, I was going to shoot her. He smelled like a brewery from here.

"What do you think I'm doing here? I came to see my fiancé because she wouldn't answer her phone or return calls. I'm here to talk to you about things and get you to stop acting out and come back home with me." Excuse me? He did not say that! "I do not appreciate having a gun shoved in my face so put it down or I'll arrest you for threatening a police officer!" Morelli snarled in my direction.

"I don't think so. First, I would shoot you before you could arrest me and second, you are not known to me, you broke into your EX-girlfriend's house in the middle of the night drunk on your ass, and third, you're leaving or I will shoot you!" I lowered the gun to point at his mid-section, a portion of his anatomy I was sure to hit and cause a lot of damage to at this range. Hurray for those self defense classes!

"Ellie…" I heard Steph move behind me and I reacted. I grabbed her with my bad arm and pulled her back against the wall again. God my arm was gonna hurt.

"Steph! Did you give him permission to be here tonight?"

"No. of course not."

"Then get on the phone and call 911 and have them come get him. As far as I am concerned he is drunk and dangerous and I want him gone. And I WILL press charges if I have to." I heard the sound of a phone opening.

Morelli lunged at me. "You fucking bitch…" Suddenly he was moving backwards at warp speed and slammed into the wall of the bathroom. Another man was in the apartment and this one was snarling and had just slammed Morelli against the wall. He was dressed in black and seemed even bigger than Morelli, more muscular.

"Ranger." Steph breathed his name, then looked at me. "Ellie, it's Ranger." I lowered the gun, but kept ready just in case.

In the hall, the 2 men were going at it, with Morelli on the losing end. He was yelling and cursing at Ranger and had a knife in his hand from somewhere. I was glad I had pulled the gun on him. "I'm going to kill you!" he was snarling with rage and directing it at Ranger.

Ranger made some sort of move that was too fast for me to see and Morelli was disarmed and laying on the floor struggling to get up. Ranger reached towards Morelli again and suddenly Lester was there. Where had he been? I relaxed with the gun, taking my finger off the trigger.

"I've got him!" Lester punched Morelli again and Morelli appeared to be unconscious. Lester set about tying him up with zip ties. Ranger stepped into the bedroom and looked at me. I suddenly understood what the rabbit felt like right before the wolf pounced. He was big. Physically powerful, immensely handsome, his presence was overwhelming. He was radiating rage and there was a sharp edge to him that made you realize he was deadly at that moment. He looked at me assessing, then discarding. Then he looked past me at Steph and his eyes softened and the lines of his body eased, the rage began to dissipate. He looked down her body, then back up.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Ellie heard him and had a gun on him. He wouldn't have been able to hurt me." Steph moved past me, sliding around the bed and up to this man. She reached her arms out and around him in a hug. "Thank you." His eyes closed and he slid his arms around her, relaxing more. The rage seemed to be gone. He leaned down to her hair and inhaled, then laid his head on hers. I looked at Lester. Lester gestured for me to come to him, so I did.

"You had a gun on him?" He was looking me over a lot like Ranger had looked Steph over a moment ago.

"Yes, of course." I raised my hand up and handed him the glock, then reached down to massage my left arm. It was hurting like a son of a bitch.

"You're hurting? Do you need a pain pill?" He put his free arm around me and hugged me.

"I'll take one in a bit. What's going to happen now?"

"I'm going to call Tank and have him remove Morelli. Probably take him back to his own house and tuck him into bed. Let him explain how he woke up at home when he supposedly got assaulted in his ex-girlfriend's apartment. I don't think we want the cops involved in this if we can avoid it."

I took a deep breath and nodded. He was right. This was a cluster fuck for sure. Lester let go of me and went to get his cell and call Tank. I heard my name called and turned to Steph.

"Ranger this is Ellie. Ellie Ross. She was my roommate or one of my roommates in college and is my phone buddy. Ellie this is Ranger, really Carlos Manoso that I've told you about."

I looked up at this man who now seemed totally calm. He smiled slightly, more an intention of a smile. Then his expression changed.

"You're in a lot of pain. What's wrong?"

Steph noticed I was rubbing and holding my left arm. "Ellie? Is it bad?" My arm was really hurting now. Actually it was starting to radiate screaming pain.

"Yeah, it's getting bad. I must've stressed it…" Suddenly my arm spasmed and I thought I was going to pass out.

**** Steph's POV ****

"Oh my god! Ellie!" Ellie looked like she was about to cry and pass out at the same time. Ranger moved past me and lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the couch, calling to Lester as he did.

"Santos, get Bobby out here too."

"Shit! Tank we need Bobby too. Ellie's hurt…Good." Lester hung up and raced over to the couch and crouched down in front of Ellie.

"Sweetheart? Querida mio, where are your pills honey?" Lester cradles her face in his hands. "Amante, please don't cry." Ellie was rocking back and forth holding her arm and panting and crying. She was really hurting.

"I know where they are Lester. I'll get them" I went to the kitchen and got a class of water and Ellie's pill bottle off the counter by the cookie jar. I brought them back to the living room and handed them to Lester.

"Querida, here let me give you a pill."

"Not a whole one. I don't want to be out. Give me a half…ahhhh!" Ellie moaned in pain.

"Querida please?"

"A half. I'll take the second half if the first one doesn't work. I don't want to pass out." Ellie opened her eyes and looked into Lester's. "Please Lester?"

Lester sighed. "All right." He gave her the half she asked for.

Ranger looked at me frowning slightly. "Explain" He asked quietly.

"Ellie had a bad fall about 9 weeks ago now. She shattered her left elbow – it was a compound fracture." Ranger shuddered slightly. "She is still recovering and her arm is weak and very sore. She came here to get away from an overly helpful ex. She was pulling on me with it and I think that must've hurt it."

Ranger quirked and eyebrow. "She fell and did that much damage?"

"That's what she said."

"Do you believe her?"

"I'm not sure. She hasn't told me anything different so far." I had wondered about simply tripping and falling and causing that much trauma, but she seemed unworried and hadn't said anything about watching out for anyone or gave me any indication she was afraid of anything. I didn't think her ex was after her, but I couldn't rule out him having a hand in her fall.

Lester was crooning to Ellie in Spanish and rubbing her arm, promising her it would feel better soon and to let him take care of her.

Ranger cut his eyes at Lester and raised his eyebrow in question. I smiled cocked my head and looked at him like "what do you think?". Ranger actually rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later, Tank, Binkie and Bobby were in the apartment. Bobby went first to Morelli and looked him over, then gave him a shot, probably some sort of mild sedative. Then Bobby went to Ellie. Tank had a short conference with Ranger, then helped Binkie carry Morelli out of the apartment. Ranger closed the door and locked it behind them.

On the couch, Bobby was looking over Ellie's arm, turning it and asking about what she was feeling as he was moving it. He asked what she had taken, then looked at the bottle. "I'm going to give you a shot with muscle relaxers in it to help relieve the spasms you are having. It will relax you and make you pretty drowsy. Take more of the Percocet as you need it to help with the pain. Lester, get one of those ice packs out of my case and activate it and put the rest here where she can use them. Ellie, you have probably stressed the fractures where they are healing as well as the muscles and tendons. They are going to swell and hurt like hell. Keep them iced, 20 minutes on, 20 off as much as you can stand to keep this under control." Bobby injected her then wrapped the ice pack to her arm with qauze. "I want to check you again tomorrow afternoon to see if things are getting better."

Ellie opened her mouth, but Lester interjected "I'll bring her down to the office about 3." Ellie started to say something and Lester looked at her and said "Please?" Damn. No one can say no when these guys say please like that. Definitely not Ellie.

"Fine." Ellie closed her eyes and leaned onto Lester. Bobby quietly packed up and headed for the door. I said "Thanks" as he passed. Bobby stopped and said quietly "I would prefer she see a doctor, but she's probably OK." Ranger nodded and Bobby left.

On the couch, Ellie was feeling the affects of the drugs and looked to be wilting quickly. Lester stood up, picked her up from the couch and headed around the couch towards the bedroom. He stopped for a moment in front of Ranger with Ellie asleep in his arms. The two men, both large, powerful, gorgeous men, traded a long look, then Lester turned, walked into my bedroom and kicked the door closed.

"Hunh" I huffed. "I guess I get to sleep on the floor now."

"Babe."

"Well, I am not about to open that door until morning. Yeesh."

"We can go sleep at Haywood. I even have a bed there." Ranger was smiling at me, an actual grin.

"Much as that sounds good, I can't." Ranger's smile disappeared. "I have a new job and all my work clothes are in there. I can't afford a day off yet."

"A new job?" I nodded. "You're not going back to Vinnie?"

I shook my head no. "I like my new job a lot. It's really great. I feel like I'm really accomplishing things." There was a flash of what looked like disappointment in Ranger's eyes, then he turned and walked over to the couch. Why would he be disappointed? I was working for him. Maybe he didn't know that yet? But why would he be disappointed if I wasn't? Hmmmmm. Then I noticed he was pulling the cushions from the couch and chair up and positioning them on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"Babe. It's after 2am and I'm tired. I need a couple hours sleep before I have to be at Rangeman." He went over, grabbed Lester's make shift mattress and positioned it next to the cushions. "Since we don't have a bed, I am making do." He undid his utility belt and dropped it on the floor. Then he sat on the mattress and started taking off his boots. Next he pulled his shirt off. I just watched, hoping drool wasn't running down my chin. God, he was sexy! He looked up at me, grabbed my wrists and yanked me down to him and kissed me hard and fast. He rolled us over and tucked me into his spoon. "You need to sleep too, if you have to work at this "great" job tomorrow." He sounded almost jealous. He settled me against him, with his face in my neck. "Sleep."

I snuggled into Ranger. _Wow. This was way better than sleeping with Ellie._

"Babe." Uh Oh. I said that out loud. And then I drifted away.

*****Notes*****

Carbuncled - A painful localized bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue that usually has several openings through which pus is discharged.

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Diosa - goddess

Ranger is back and will find about Steph and her new role in Rangeman. We'll also see how he moves forward with their relationship now that Morelli is permanently out of the way. He always said that if he felt her barriers relaxing, he'd move in. Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Sorry this update took so long. Still caught up in some other really great Plum fanfiction. Anyway, here it is and Ranger is finds out about Steph's job!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

****x

*****o

********Chapter 7**********

**** Ranger's POV ****

The apartment was quiet in the early morning. Even the attack hamster was quiet. My alarm was due in a few minutes, but I was already awake just enjoying holding Stephanie in my arms. I missed her when I was gone. I was really happy that the government contracts were finally over. Now I could concentrate on the business and the future and her. There were still dangers to be dealt with and I took a moment to breathe deeply as I remembered last night. When I walked into Steph's apartment and saw Morelli standing there and the female voice yelling at him, then Babe's voice I didn't think, I simply acted. I got across the room just as the cop lunged and disarmed him quickly. I wanted to kill him in that moment, but Lester appeared from somewhere and intervened. Lucky for the cop.

I wonder about the girl friend. Tank mentioned her when I checked in as I left Bethesda, said that she was at the apartment. I was going to just come in, see my Babe and leave her a note so she would know I was back and thinking of her. Tank didn't mention Lester. From Lester's behavior towards the friend, it seems my cousin may finally be whipped. I like that thought. Maybe he'll leave me alone for a while.

Steph moved in her sleep, wiggling her butt against me as she snuggled closer to me. I already had a hard on and it just got worse. I was going to have to see where everything stood with her. Tank had said that the cop was not in the picture and had caused her some problems, but nothing too serious other than a fire roasted car. Until last night. Something needed to be done there. It would have to be carefully done since he was a cop and Steph's soft heart was involved. The thought of her feeling sorry for Morelli irritated me. I knew she loved me. That she was in love with me. I had made a major mistake with her and I knew it. I had made that stupid deal because I wanted her so bad I couldn't stand it any longer. I thought sleeping with her would be the end of the attraction and I could go back to just enjoying her as a novel friend. Ha. Told her I would ruin her for any other man. Double HA! She turned the tables on me and ruined me for any other woman. I was too twisted up in my own emotions at the time to realize what I was throwing away. When I did figure it out, she had done what I said and gone back to him. I think she kept going back to him because of that morning too. Now that I was no longer on call for possible death, I could dedicate the time to changing things between us. The cop was definitely going to have to go.

The woman in my arms started to stir. I buried my face in her neck and waited to see her reaction to me this morning. I didn't have long to wait. The moment she was fully awake she went absolutely still. Then her hand reached up and gently touched my hair, she breathed in as though surprised. Then I heard something I hadn't heard before. Her voice very softly saying "Carlos." I couldn't help myself. My arms tightened around her and I crushed her against me. "Babe." She was still for a moment then started to struggle. I relaxed my arms and she turned to me, looked at me.

"Are you all right?" She looked down my chest and started running her hands over me.

She surprised me. "I'm fine. Why…"

"You just got back last night, then you had to deal with that," She waved her hand in the direction of the bedroom. "Tank said there were injuries on that last job. Are you hurt?"

She was worried about me. I don't want her to worry, but the knowledge warms me. "I have some pretty deep bruises in a couple of places, but otherwise no injuries. Don't worry about me. I'm all right."

She smiled and lit up my world. "Good." I reached for her, but she was moving to get up. I grabbed her and pulled her back to me.

She giggled. "Ranger, I have to pee!" I released her and she took off for the bathroom. I guess that ended that. I got up to start coffee and wait my turn.

***** Stephanie's POV *****

I raced to the bathroom before I had an accident. I made it barely in time. Once I was relieved, I set about brushing my teeth and splashed some water on my face. Ranger seemed different. He had been different before he left, softer with me, asking me to come with him when he went on jobs, have dinner, and talking more. He still seemed different. I wondered if we could be more to each other now that Morelli was out of my life. I wanted to find out and wasn't in a panic from the thought. A relationship with Ranger was what I had wanted but it had terrified me too. I knew that if I got into one with him that for me it would be forever, and that had scared the shit outta me for some reason. I guess I was different too. More grown up? What a concept. I headed back to the kitchen and smelled the beginning of a pot of coffee. Now Ranger was being domestic too. Yum.

I bounced into the kitchen. "All yours!" He was leaning up against the cabinets with his arms folded. He pushed away and headed to the bathroom.

"Thanks Babe."

I took a deep breath. He was yummy in the morning with no shirt and no shoes on. Of course he was yummy all the time, but really! I could get used to morning Ranger.

I looked into the fridge and got some carrot shreds and a couple of blueberries out for Rex. Normally I would not have blueberries, but Ellie liked them, so I shared with Rex. He poked his head out of his soup can as soon as the loot hit his bowl. He dashed over to grab the carrots, froze, sniffed the blueberries. I swear his eyes got bigger and he grabbed the blueberries and started eating them, not even waiting to get back to the soup can.

"The attack hamster looks happy." Ranger leaned against me to look in on Rex.

"He is in heaven because I can afford to feed him better with my new job. He gets lots of special treats now." Ranger raised an eyebrow and made a sound that I swear was a snort. Batman snorts? Then he muttered something in Spanish. I poured myself a cup of coffee, smiled at Ranger and headed back to the bathroom to get ready for work. "I'll be back after I get myself made up as corporate Stephanie. Will you still be here or are you leaving soon?"

"I'll be here a little while longer. I need to talk to Lester before I go."

"Okay. See you when I'm done!"

**** Lester's POV ****

I heard them stirring around in the other room, then first one, then the other hit the bathroom. As soon as I heard someone leave the bathroom the second time, I eased myself off the bed, slid back into my pants and used the facilities myself. When I was finished, I followed my nose to the coffee pot in the kitchen, passing Steph as she headed back to get ready for work.

"Is Ellie OK?" Steph stopped me and place a hand on my arm.

"Yeah. Still asleep. I'm going to stay here today with her to make sure she rests and takes the pills when she hurts. And to make sure she sees Bobby today."

Steph, rubbed my arm. "She likes you Lester, but she's not into casual relationships."

"Neither am I anymore." Steph smiled and headed on to the bathroom.

I walked on into the kitchen and was confronted by Ranger and a very frosty look. He handed me a cup of coffee and picked his back up. I sipped and waited for it.

"Where were you last night?"

I sighed. "I walked the perimeter looking for anything out of place. When I went around the side of the building I saw his truck and only stopped long enough to see if he was in it. He wasn't so I came back up here as fast as I could. You know the rest."

"Why wasn't there a man posted outside?"

"We're short handed man! Half the crew is down with some sort of bug. That's why I've been sleeping on the floor in here. No man power to really do the thing right."

Ranger sighed. Actually sighed. "All right. You and I will keep watch over them until we're back up to speed." That suited me fine.

I thought about what had almost happened last night, and about how Ellie had hurt herself and ended up in a lot of pain even though Morelli never touched her. Then I thought about what could have happened if Ranger hadn't stopped Morelli. My chest hurt.

"How do you do this? I mean handle Steph being hurt or alone or…Man all I want to do is wrap Ellie in my arms and take her home and never let her go. She won't stand for that, keeps me at arms length and then something like this happens! How do you stand just letting her go? And I've only been with her a week! My chest hurts and I feel like shit."

Ranger looked at me a long moment over his coffee. A slight smile appeared. "Welcome to my hell cousin. At least yours isn't compounded by the stupidest thing ever said by a man to a woman he loves."

"What are you talking about?"

Ranger sighed. A real sigh. Shit. This was going to be bad. "2 years ago I spent the night making love with Steph. It was the most incredible night of my life. I have never felt like I did that night. Then the next morning, my alarm went off, I told her I had to go, put on my clothes and left without a backwards glance." He looked at me ruefully.

"You're shitting me! You had that wonderful woman in your bed and you treated her like she was just another lay? Are you nuts?"

"Oh it gets worse." I stared at him.

"How much worse could it get?"

I saw real grief on his face then. "I saw her a few hours later when I brought Hector here to install new locks. I told her to repair her relationship with Morelli. I had nothing more for her." I swear Ranger looked nauseous. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"Tell her you love her man! She needs to know that and you need to get your head out of your ass."

"I did tell her. And then compounded my stupidity by qualifying it. 'I love you in my own way'…'My love comes with a condom, not a ring…my life doesn't lend itself to relationships.' Need I go on?" I shook my head no. I was feeling shocked and appalled and I don't know what else. "It took some time and thought to realize how I felt about her, what that really meant. Now when I tell her I love her, she automatically hears the qualifier. And she stayed with Morelli as much because I told her that's all she could have as for any other reason. She's been told so many times by people she counts on that she's not worth much that she believes it. My behavior inadvertently compounded that. Now I have to find a way to fix this."

I was stunned. I played around a little…OK, a lot, but I would never treat a woman that way, even the women that I was only intending to screw and leave. It was disrespectful of women in general and was just wrong. I thought Carlos did better than that. He was not a player, at least not in the last few years since we started Rangeman, but he had always respected women. And to hear that he said those things to Steph pissed me off. I opened my mouth.

Ranger held up his hand. "Whatever you're going to say I've already said to myself. If you have any suggestions how to fix this, I would be happy to hear them."

I closed my mouth and thought. Then I heard the shower go off and the blow dryer start. We didn't have much longer before Steph showed back up.

"Woo her. Take her on dates, do things with and for her that no one's done before. She once told me that Morelii never took her anywhere, never really dated her at all. DATE her. Flowers, presents, affection, romance, encouragement. That's what she needs. Let her know by your actions how you really feel, THEN tell her."

Ranger smiled at me. "You gonna take your own advice?"

I nodded my head. "Already am cous. Already am."

**** Steph's POV ****

I finished my hair and makeup. I didn't really pump up the makeup at work. I pulled my old robe off the back of the bathroom door and slid into it. I would need to call Tank for a ride to work. I smiled. I wanted to see Ranger's reaction when he realized my great job was with him. Hehehehe!

I went back towards the kitchen to see Ranger and Lester nursing cups of coffee and looking like they were thinking deep thoughts. Both were still shirtless and shoeless and it was a rush to see so much hot masculinity in my kitchen. Especially Ranger.

"You're not going to work today, right Les?"

"No. I want to stay and make sure Ellie is all right and doesn't need anything. OK?" Lester set his cup down and stepped to me. "You can call to get a ride, can't you?" He rolled his eyes back in the direction of Ranger. Oh. I get it.

"Yeah, the boss will come get me. He's a good guy."

Lester ginned at me. "Ok then. I'm going back with Ellie. I'll see you tonight." Lester walked past me headed for the bedroom.

I turned and looked at Ranger. He was still holding the coffee cup and leaning on the counter watching me. I smiled at him. "Good morning."

"Babe." He took another sip of his coffee, then set the cup down. "Your boss is going to come pick you up?"

"Oh yeah. He's a good guy. I really like him a lot. He's been great about me and my job and I really respect him. He'll come get me if I ask him." I smiled up at my boss's boss.

Ranger's jaw was clenched a bit and he seemed a little tense. "Well, I guess you're all set for your day then." He stepped forward and cupped my face with his hands. He leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. "Ok Babe. I need to go. I have a lot to catch up on at the office and don't want to work until midnight doing it."

I nodded. "I know."

His hands dropped and he stepped around me to gather his clothes and get dressed. "I might be able to get some time at lunch, if you think you'll be free. I could come pick you up and have lunch together."

Wow. He was talking and asking at the same time. I like Sweet Ranger. "That sounds nice. I'd like that."

Ranger reappeared in the kitchen door dressed and ready to go. "Call me later and let me know when you'll be free." He reached out touched my cheek with his fingers then leaned in and kissed me again. "I'll talk to you later then." He turned and headed to my door. He started to open it, then turned again. "Be sure to throw all the locks behind me Babe. And remind Lester he needs to do the same when you leave. Could you ask him to walk you to the car? I don't want you to have to deal With Morelli."

I really do like Sweet Ranger! He asked! "I will lock up. And yes, I will ask Lester to walk me out. Don't worry. I don't want to deal with Morelli either."

After Ranger left, I called Tank and told him Les was staying here and that Ranger had already left for work and arranged a ride.

"I can have Zeke and Leo swing by on their way back for shift change. They should be there about 8:00."

"Ranger doesn't know I'm the new business manager, does he?"

"Nope. I just told him someone had been hired and that was it. I want him to see what you've done without knowing it was you. Don't get me wrong, you're doing an outstanding job, but Ranger gets emotional where you are concerned and I want him to see the outstanding job before he sees it's you. He gets a clear look at your capabilities that way."

Hunh. Ranger gets emotional about me. Hunh. Good to hear. "Not to mention it's a good joke on him too."

Tank laughed. "That too. Be ready at 8:00" It was just before 7 in the morning.

**** Ranger's POV ****

I arrived at Haywood at 7:00 and went straight to the gym for a quick workout, then upstairs for a shower and change of clothes. By the time I went back down to the 5th floor to get a sitrep from Tank, it was 8:30. I also wanted to see what was happening with the new business manager and understand the praise Tank had given her over the phone.

I walked into my office where Tank was working behind my desk. "Report!"

"All accounts secure. No issues or criminal activity. Minor vandalism, one attempted break in, one attempted assault on a body guard case, all handled to the clients satisfaction." Tank got up and moved around the desk so I could sit in my chair.

"Tell me about this business manager and what changes have been made that has you so excited."

"There are 4 folders in front of you. If you'll open the first one, you'll see a spreadsheet with cost savings projected across all the offices for the rest of this year and next year. They are based on the changes already made, underway or planned by the business manager over 1 year and 2 years. The top row is the changes already completed in the last 2 weeks."

I stared at the numbers. "According to this, we can save as much as 5 million dollars next year across all the offices! That can't be right." I looked at the list of changes already implemented. There were contracts to provide supplies at incredibly low prices. I knew for a fact what we were paying for bullets and the prices on this list were too low. "I can NOT allow inferior products simply because of cost, Tank! We sell our services based on the quality of those services. You know that!" I was nearly shouting at this point. I couldn't believe that he would allow price to over ride quality like that.

"Ranger, listen a moment. If you check the contracts that were negotiated, you'll see the exact same products we buy right now. They are right there under the spreadsheet. It's not inferior products. We were being taken to the cleaners because we never negotiated based on the quantity of what we were buying." Tank was shaking his head. "Believe me, I didn't want to think we were being ripped off that badly, but we were. And this business manager is a barracuda when it comes to negotiation. She got the best of the deal and still left the supplier with a profit. It was amazing and enlightening to watch, man."

I stared at the contracts that Tank had signed. I was amazed at the prices that were negotiated. And the contracts covered office supplies, mission supplies, munitions and food for the building. My god. Whoever this woman was, she was good.

Tank leaned forward and pulled a green folder out of the pile. "Take a look at this. This is a proposal to automate most of the paper work we do and provide us a real time sitrep and reporting capability. The tactical guys are excited and demanding to know when we can get started on the plan. Your new business manager organized Hal, Hector and Silvio into a team to get the plan in place, then the team put up a plan to do a proof of concept to shake out the equipment and procedures. All we need is your signature."

I glanced at the summary and started to get excited myself. "Get her in here now. I have questions and I need to meet this woman."

"On it." Tank was sending a text to what I assume was the business manager to get her tail in here. I continued reading the plan getting more ideas and more excited as I read. This was real brilliance.

I heard a tap on the door which Tank answered, then the rustle of clothing as someone walked across to the desk and sat in the right had chair in front of my desk. I had not seen this woman's resume. I trusted Tank's decisions on personnel, but I assumed that the woman was not military, so the usual military barking of command would likely not work, and I needed to keep this lady happy and working for Rangeman. But I still needed to make sure she understood that I was in charge and would demand respect from her. I decided on my approach, and started talking without looking up.

"These results very impressive. I would like to go over the numbers and how you negotiated these, and I have a number of questions about the plan you've presented." I waited for a response before looking up.

"Thanks." I froze. I lifted my head and looked straight at my Babe sitting across my desk.

She smiled and did a little finger wave. "Hi." I stared at her a second, then leveled a death glare at Tank.

He burst out laughing. "Hey man, I just hired the best candidate for the job! You should go ever everything with her, especially the plan." Tank left my office chuckling and shaking his head.

I looked back at the information in front of me. It WAS impressive. And it was my Babe that did this for my company. I was so very proud.

**** Steph's POV ****

When I walked into the office, Ranger had his head down reading the reports I had written. I looked at Tank and he just shook his head slightly. I guess Ranger still didn't know it was me. This ought to be interesting. I moved to the desk and sat in the chair in front of it.

Ranger read for a moment, then started talking without looking up. "These results are very impressive. I would like to go over the numbers and how you negotiated these, and I have a number of questions about the plan you've presented."

Oh boy. Here we go. "Thanks." I wasn't sure what else to say. Ranger went absolutely still for a moment, then looked at me. I finger waved at him and just said "Hi." He just looked at me then sent a narrow eyed glare at Tank who started laughing.

"Hey man, I just hired the best candidate for the job! You should go ever everything with her, especially the plan." Then Tank left me to deal with Ranger on my own, chuckling as he went and shaking his head.

Ranger went back to looking at the reports in front of him. "Babe, I don't know what to say, other than I'm proud of you. This is good work. I'd like to understand how you did some of this, so I am going to ask you some questions." He looked at me, and the expression on his face was soft and something else which my heart said was affection.

"Sure. Fire away." The next hour or so was spent explaining the various negotiations I did as well as explaining the ideas in the technology plan the guys and I had built. I explained that we needed to do a proof of concept with the plan both to try out the technology as well as to see how well it really did in the field. Ranger approved the plan, and suggested we select a couple of teams to test with that would cover a broad range of what Rangeman did. It was an exciting and interesting conversation. I learned a lot more about how Ranger thought as a business man and was impressed all over again with his thought process and how smart he really is. I mean I knew he was good at plans and strategy and stuff, but wow! He really is a good business thinker. He hadn't done anything about purchase agreements and stuff not because he didn't know how or anything. It was because he was focused on the action part of the business, the getting of new clients and the actual street level work. He had just not looked at or thought about the amount of money he was spending that could have been saved.

We finally got to the last folder and the purchase and refurbishment of my building. He sat for a moment just looking at it.

"Babe." Well. I wasn't sure how to interpret that one. It sounded like it was good. But I wasn't sure what else was wrapped up in there.

"Uh, would you please say more words than that? I can't tell what that means this time."

He smiled his almost smile at me. "I was avoiding buying your building because I didn't want you to feel like I was trying to control everything around you. It was tough to avoid for a lot of reasons, then I see you turned around and not only arranged for me to buy it, but got it and the remodeling for a price under what I was willing to pay for the building. I'm impressed and very happy. At least once the updates are in place in the building, I know you'll be able to be there and be safe."

Hearing him say that and knowing he is impressed and proud of me made me fell light as a feather and like I could do anything. There was just one more thing I needed from him.

"Ranger, are you OK with this? With me being so involved in your business like this?" I waited, my heart pounding a bit. God, I wanted him to be OK with it. He looked at me for a long moment, then got up and came around the desk to me. He leaned over, his hands on the arms of the chair I was in, and leaned his face in close to mine.

"Babe, I am more than OK. I have wanted you to want to be here and be involved with Rangeman for a long time. You just never seemed to want to stay. I had planned on trying to get you involved in some of the investigative work, but Tank seems to have had a better idea. I want you here. I'm happy you're here." My heart started to hum. _Please don't qualify that, please don't qualify that_. "I've told you before that I feel no need for privacy where you are concerned. That includes my business. The only thing I need to keep from you is some of the information on the government stuff we do, but that is because of clearances, not because I don't want you there." Ok. That I can understand and deal with. _He wants me here. He wants me here._ I chanted in my head.

I was looking up at him, he was standing over me, looking down at me. He leaned over, moving closer, then he kissed me. It started as a light, tender kiss. I moaned and his tongue invaded my mouth and he deepened the kiss, plundering my mouth. Our tongues dueled and fought for possession, and he won. It was a toe curling, OMG kind of kiss. Just as I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, he pulled back.

"Instead of lunch, go out with me tonight? Let me take you to a nice dinner, please?" Oh God, he used please. He had me at 'let me take you', he didn't need please.

"That sounds really good. I would like that." I raised my hand and ran my fingers down the side of his handsome face. He growled and leaned forward to kiss me again, but I had suddenly realized we were in his office and someone could come in at any time. And I needed to retain some control of things with him, at least at work. So I rolled sideways in my chair, grabbed his arm where he was still leaning on my chair and swung myself out from under him and around back to my feet beside him. I managed to get back on my feet and out of the circle of his arms without falling on my ass.

"I should get back to work before my boss wonders what I'm doing. I smiled at him and headed for the door. As I my hand closed on the door knob, I turned back to him to tell him later, and some imp inside me decided to pull the tiger's tail. "And you," my eyes slid from his face to his pants where his erection was straining the zipper then back to his face. "You should take a cold shower." Then I opened the door and sashayed out, putting just a touch more swing to my hips that normal. As soon as I rounded the first corner on the way to my office, I took off for my office. _Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I just messed with Batman._ I felt like I could take on anything.

**** Ranger's POV ****

I felt like I had just been sucker punched. The woman is gonna kill me. I looked at the door she just swung her hips out of and shook my head. Then I adjusted myself as my hard on just got a lot worse. Cold shower my ass. I wanted her bad. I was taking her to dinner tonight and thought about the possibility of getting her in my bed. I wanted to, but I also didn't want her to think that is all I want from her. I was going to go the whole boyfriend route with flowers, dinner, maybe a movie (her call), and a kiss goodnight. If she wanted more, well, I would let her decide that and decide the pace. God. I sat back down behind my desk. My cock was hurting. I might have to do something for myself just to get through the day. Despite that I felt elated. She was here – full time and deeply involved in my company. I could see her during the day, and even when I didn't I would know she was safe and happy. And the cop was out – I just had to make sure he stayed out and didn't pose a threat to her in any way. I smiled to myself. She had come to me of her own free will. Now I had to show her how much that meant to me, how much she meant to me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I had my company, I had a relationship with my daughter, I had my Babe, and I was free of my contract. At this moment, life was good. I exhaled.

But she was right. Time for work. I punched the number for Tanks office. "Tank? My office." We needed to discuss what happened in the debrief and what we could do to protect ourselves just in case.

****x

*****o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Diosa - goddess

So Ranger is back and he's stepping it up a little. Steph is starting to come out of her lack of confidence and is maybe going to grow up enough for Ranger. He always said that if he felt her barriers relaxing, he'd move in. Now for Lester and Ellie, and Ranger doing a date with Steph! And with no more contracts… Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Now let's find out what's been happening with Ellie and Lester while Ranger was finding out about Steph. Smut warning!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

****x

*****o

********Chapter 8**********

**** Lester's POV ****

I went back to Steph's bedroom and looked in to find Ellie still asleep. She had been in so much pain last night. I know that the combination of the muscle relaxers and Percocet had put her under and that was NOT what she had wanted. But it was what was best. She needed to rest her body and her mind so she could heal.

I was still amazed at how quickly I had become attached to her. It was an almost instant reaction of my body and my heart. I've never been in love with anyone before, but I suspected I was rapidly falling in love with Ellie. I know Ranger said there was this instant connection with Steph the minute he saw her in that blasted diner. He said he tried to get away from her, tried to avoid the connection, tried to trivialize it, but couldn't seem to make the break. And now he was done. He was going to get Steph and hold her. It was about time for them, but I wasn't sure how to feel about this thing with Ellie and me. I knew she felt it too and was trying very hard to ignore it. I went out of my way to keep her from doing that. I loved the way she would get goose bumps from me just running my finger down her arm or touching he shoulder or…down boy. I really wanted her. I thought about her all the time. I was on a stake out yesterday afternoon with Cal and he actually complained that I was too quiet. Usually on stakeout I would talk and joke and was always moving, causing my stakeout partner to tell me to shut up repeatedly. Not since Ellie showed up. Jeez. I wish she would let me in. I would just have to work harder.

I also wish I knew exactly what had happened to her. I felt that there was a lot more to her injury and that someone else was involved and I wanted to hurt them. Bad. Something else to work on. Getting her to trust me enough to confide in me.

I decided to crawl back into bed with her until everyone else left. At least I could hold her while she slept. I shucked my jeans and climbed under the covers with her commando style. So sue me. Sleeping in clothes is uncomfortable and Ellie was wearing PJs. Ellie was laying on her left side, so I tucked her back up against my front spoon style and just held her. She stirred slightly then was still.

I listened as Steph and Ranger moved around the apartment. I heard the front door open and close, then a few minutes later the bedroom door creaked open and Steph slipped through the door. She looked my way, noticed I was awake and looking at her so she mouthed that she was after clothes. I just nodded and watched her gather up underwear and what looked like her Rangeman uniform. Then she gave a little wave and mouthed "See you later" to me. I mouthed back "Lock up behind you when you leave" she nodded, smiled, and closed the bedroom door behind her. I relaxed back onto the pillow next to Ellie and leaned closer to her to watch her sleep. I might have dozed a bit, then I heard the front door to the apartment close.

Suddenly, Ellie's voice sounded in my ear and I jumped slightly. "I guess everyone is gone now."

"I thought you were asleep"

"No. I was laying here enjoying the feel of things." Ellie moved her right hand back behind her towards me under the covers. She touched me at my waist then slid her palm down my side to my hip and went still. "Lester?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you naked?"

Oh boy. I'm either about to get access to the promised land or I'm about to get the shit beat outta me. "Ah, yes. It's uncomfortable to sleep in jeans."

"Uh huh. And I suppose you go commando under your jeans?"

She still hadn't moved. "Uh, yeah, I ah, hate underwear. Too many wedgies as a kid."

Her hand slid down my hip onto my bottom and slid up and down over my skin. My hard on got harder and I had all I could do to keep my hands still. I think I moaned. "Now why would anyone want to give you a wedgie?" She slid her hand back up over my hip and slid to the front of my hip bone and started to travel down.

"Ah, Ellie, Ah Querida, you need to stop. I am getting ideas that you might not want me to have." Her hand slid into the valley where my leg and my hip met, then down lower towards my cock, stopping just short of touching it. My cock twitched and started to send messages to my brain about wanting to be inside her. Oh god. I think I moaned again.

She rolled onto her back without moving her hand and looked at me with sparkling eyes. "What ideas would those be, Lester?" She curled her fingers against my skin, then opened them, then curled them in a slow rhythm, all just a hairs breadth from my cock. It was one of the most erotic things I had ever felt.

I definitely moaned. I rolled onto her putting my right hand on her bad arm to stop her moving, then pulling her right hand over her head with my left and holding her there. My legs had gone to either side of hers and my body covered hers. I was totally on her and had her trapped under me. She whimpered.

"Querida I am sorry. I…" I started to roll off her, sure I was crushing her, hurting her, scaring her.

"Don't go! Don't move Lester, please?" She was breathing fast and her eyes were dilated.

"Amante, please. You're so much smaller than me and I don't want to crush you or hurt you."

"You don't know, do you?" She was looking me in the eyes, making small movements under me, driving me insane. "One of the most erotic feelings is when a really large, sexy, gentle man who you really trust covers you…oh my god! The difference in size is so hot, makes me feel so…" Then she nipped me where my neck meets my shoulder. I swear I was going to spontaneously combust. She was moving under me making me sweat, testing my control. Then she moaned.

"Querida, I don't want you to feel trapped and…"

Suddenly she went stiff, pulled her hands free and shoved at my shoulders. "Get off me!" I automatically rolled off her. As soon as I moved, she rolled off the bed on her side and headed for the door, then stopped, looked me square in the eye. "Don't move. I'll be right back." And headed for the bathroom.

I was confused. What just happened here?

**** Ellie's POV ****

I really had to pee. That was the main reason I made Lester move. I had been thinking about things ever since he came back to bed this morning and we listened to Steph and Ranger finally leave. Lester really cares. He's not playing. I thought about all the things he'd been doing and saying over the last week, and about how he acted last night when I was hurt. His reaction said everything about where his head and heart were. I know there was a connection between us of some kind. I know he felt it too. And he seemed to want to keep it going. I thought a lot about him and was very attracted to him. With that connection there, getting involved with him might be worth the risk. I was going to try it and see anyway. But I WAS NOT moving to Jersey. Nope. Not happening. I washed my hands after I finished then splashed water on my face, and brushed my teeth. I had a few plans for the next little while.

I went back to the bedroom to find Lester laying on his back under the covers looking a little confused. Poor guy. The covers had slipped down to his hips and he looked really good lying there, with his messy hair, all big and powerful and sexy and confused. I walked to the end of the bed by his feet.

"What was that?" Lester's voice was quiet.

"That was proof." He just looked more confused. "Lester, what if I had waited to tell you to move for, say, 5 more minutes. Would you have moved?"

"Of course."

"There is no 'of course' about it. There are a great many men who would have taken my touch as permission to do anything they wanted with no changing to 'no' later."

"I would never…"

"That's the point. I can never feel trapped with you because I know I can tell you to stop at any time and you will. Even if we're in the middle of sex, you would stop. Wouldn't you?"

"Well, yeah. I would never force anything like that!"

"I know that." I smiled at him. He really was a big sweetie.

I watched him take a deep breath. "So what happens now? I mean do you want some coffee? You don't have to feel like we have to do anything. I don't want you to be afraid of me or worried that I…oh." I reached down, grabbed the bottom of my undershirt and pulled it over my head and tossed it on the floor. Lester's eyes darkened and his breath started getting uneven.

"I'm not afraid of men. I'm not afraid of sex. And I'm not afraid of you." I pulled my shorts down and stepped out of them, then climbed on the bed walked down beside him, then straddled him and sat down on his cock on top of the covers. "There is no man in my life and hasn't been for several years, Lester. I want you. I just had to decide if the risk was worth it." I looked at him.

"Querida, my god you're beautiful." His hands came up and stroked my knees. "What risk?"

"The risk to my heart, to my life. I am not wanting a one off with you. If you want to do this, then you have to be in it for a while."

He just looked at me. "I don't want a one off. I want a chance with you. Please?" It took me a moment, then I realized he was giving me control of what happened next. My choice. All righty then.

I slid up the covers and across his belly so I could reach his mouth when I leaned over. My breasts touched down on his bare chest and he gently reached up and palmed them, squeezing gently, then rubbing his thumbs across my nipples. I leaned down, bracing most of my weight on my right arm and kissed him. It was a toe curling kiss and I wanted more, but my bad arm betrayed me. I couldn't hold myself any longer and laid down on Lester's chest and tried to shift to get comfortable.

"Ellie? Did you hurt your arm? Mi pequeña diosa, deja que te ayude con este."

**** Lester's POV ****

I knew she had just hurt herself leaning on me that way. I wrapped my arms around her and flipped us so that she was lying on her back with me on top. I was still going to let her dictate where this went and how fast, but I was not going to let her hurt.

"It's all right. It really doesn't hurt that bad. I don't want to stop, please?" She looked at me with her pretty golden eyes asking me to stay with her.

"No worries, Amante. We will do this together." I began kissing her left hand, kissing each finger then trailing kisses down her arm. I turned her arm and began kissing the scar on the back of her arm, kissing and nipping her with my lips, trying to soothe her. "I will kiss it and make it all better."

"Mmm. Nice." She was purring at me, I swear. I continued to kiss up her arm then moved across her shoulders to her neck. I kissed and nipped at her, then bit her neck and sucked, marking her. I made sure it was a small mark, but it was there. I never marked the women I slept with, but this one was different. This one was mine. I just had to make sure she knew that as well. I slid down to focus on her breasts, letting go of her arms. Her hands were in my hair, stroking my scalp as she ran her hands thru my hair. I palmed her breasts, squeezing them gently and began loving them with my mouth, nipping and sucking and laving them with my tongue as I listened to her cries. Dios! I loved the sound of her pleasure. I continued to kiss my way down her belly to her mound, then began nipping and kissing her inner thighs. She moved her legs apart for me in invitation. "Please? Please Lester?" I smiled and obliged her, licking her and probing her with my fingers. Lord she was slick and tight and so sweet!. I began licking her clit and nibbling it as her cries got louder and more pleading. She was very close, so I nipped her clit gently, stroking 2 fingers in and out of her. Her hands fisted in my hair and she shattered into orgasm in my hands. I stoked her gently as she came back down.

"Lester…" She pulled my hair trying to urge me up. I knew she was asking for me to fuck her, but I wanted to watch her come again before watching her face as I entered her and fucked her into another orgasm.

"Not yet Querida. I am not done with you yet." She whimpered my name, and then went incoherent as I started licking and stroking her again. I worked her until she was writhing and pleading and then I gently nipped her clit again and she came even harder than the first time. I watched her, stroking her until the shock eased off, then slid to my knees, reached over into the night stand and snagged one of the condoms I had seen there. I dressed myself then settled back onto my heels and looked at Ellie. She was watching me, breathing rapidly, eyes wild. I grasped her hips, lifted her slightly and leaned forward, pressing the head of my cock into her. Dios mio! She was hot and tight. I watched as her eyes widened and she made little sounds as I pressed into her. She moved her hips and I had to stop her or I would lose it. She was really tight! I kept slowly going forward until I was fully sheathed inside her. I looked down to where our bodies were joined and then I put my hand on her. She made a little moaning sound, then I moved my thumb down and touched her clit. She cried out and called my name. "Lester!" I smiled then began rubbing her clit without moving, just feeling her walls moving and clenching around me. She tried to buck her hips and pleaded with me, "Lester please!"

"Not yet Querida. I want to feel you come around me first." She was almost sobbing with need. I continued to rub until she was nearly there, then I used my fingers to gently pinch her clit and she fell over the edge in an orgasm. She nearly killed me in the process. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Not only was she beautiful when she came, but the movements of her walls nearly made me come just from the force of it. Dios mio! I almost came like a randy teen ager! As soon as she came back to me, I began to slowly rock back and forth, gently fucking her, making stronger and stronger thrusts until I was pulling almost all the way out before sliding back into her. I felt her start to get close again, so I increased the pace and was thrilled to see and feel her go over the edge again. As she came down again, I increased my pace and began thrusting harder into her. She was making incoherent noises, then she reached up and grabbed me by my hair and pulled me down to kiss me nearly senseless. She started to scratch my back and nip at my shoulders and I lost it. I pressed down on her, grabbed her shoulders to use as leverage and began pounding myself into her, seeking my own release. I felt and heard her come just 4 strokes ahead of my own release. I felt like I was going to fly apart. It was one of the most intense orgasms I have ever had and I have had quite a few. When I was done I collapsed onto her, feeling her aftershocks as well as my own. I couldn't move. Morelli could be poking me in the ass with a gun and I doubt I would be able to move a muscle.

We lay together for a little bit, then I felt her stir slightly. I raised my head and kissed her. "Querida, you are amazing."

She smiled. "You're pretty good yourself." I smirked and moved a little. I was still about 3 quarters hard, and her eyes widened. "You're still hard?"

"Not completely. I am starting to come down though. I'd start something again, but you said you haven't been with anyone in a while, and I don't want you to be too sore. I intend to make love to you again tonight…several times." I nuzzled her neck. She made a contented sound. I liked the fact that she hadn't been with anyone in a while, but it was going to be painful waiting until later to be inside her again. I was determined to take care of her and not cause her anymore pain. I moved out of her, then rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom. "Wait there mi amante. I will be right back."

**** Ellie's POV ****

I laid in the bed on my back and hummed contentedly. I could hear Lester in the bathroom running water and, I assume, cleaning up. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to move anytime soon. I loved the way he made love to me. God I love the feeling of a big man on me. I was full of energy, but so relaxed I was content just to lay there. Lester came back in the room carrying a washcloth.

"Let me clean you up a little mi diosa. I want you to be comfortable." He gently cleaned the mess on my legs and tossed the wash cloth back into the bathroom, then laid down on his side next to me. He started sliding his hand across my breasts. He took a deep breath. "I meant what I said Querida. I want a chance with you. I want whatever this is between us to work." He slid his hand up to my neck. "I know you don't live here, but we can work this out and have something good if we try. I…There are things you don't know about me yet and I hope you'll get to know me and trust me. I've had a hard job. And I've done things. I just want you to know I…"

"Lester, we both have things the other doesn't know. I know you've been a soldier and that is not an easy thing to do. I've got things too. I mean, you only know me from what you've seen the last week or so. And vice versa. I know a little more about you because of Steph, but I really don't know YOU yet." I rubbed his chest and brushed his hair out of his face. "We just need to take the time and make the effort to know each other as friends and lovers." I smiled at him and kissed him. "Being in a long distance relationship might actually help that. We'd actually have to talk to each other to keep the connection going." I grinned at him.

"Talk huh? Actually communicate? What a concept. Maybe we should suggest that to Steph and Ranger?"

I grinned at him. "You're bad!"

He smiled back, then took a deep breath. "Ellie, amante, what really happened with your arm? That is way too much damage for a simple slip and fall."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Oh boy. I took another deep breath trying to decide what to tell him.

"Querida, please tell me. I need to know so that I can make sure you're safe. Please?" I opened my eyes and looked at him. He really was a large and powerful man physically, and had the connections, background and knowledge to keep me secure from threats. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to say, or could say.

Gathering my thoughts, I made a decision. "I was shoved."

He went still. "Who shoved you?"

"I don't really know." He blinked then opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "I had attended a conference in downtown DC and was leaving the building to go home. It was almost 5pm and I was walking in front of the building with a lot of other people moving around trying to get somewhere and suddenly a man was next to me and I felt him shove me, almost throw me away. I landed hard on my elbow and shattered it."

His jaw muscles were working. "Who was it? Did anyone catch him?"

"No. I don't think anyone really realized what he'd done. Most people assumed I tripped and were trying to help me. I saw him watch for a few minutes then disappear into the crowd. That's all I know." I watched his face as he processed this.

"Can you describe him? Tall, short, dark, light, his build?"

"He was probably around 5'10", dressed in a dark suit, he looked like a business man. I thought a moment more, "he was more muscular than the usual, but not like you." I ran my hand down his arm. He caught my hand and looked at me. He had a very intent look in his eyes.

"Why would someone single you out of all those people to try to hurt? Steph mentioned you were some kind of computer geek. Would your work have anything to do with this?"

Ok. Handsome, sexy, and smart. "I work for…let's just say I work for a government agency doing some classified computer work. And yes, my job might have something to do with this. I don't know how they knew I would even be there or what they were trying to accomplish since losing me would not stop anything, just slow it down. I don't know how much more I can tell you than that."

Lester smiled at me. "I understand that mi diosa. I've done a few classified contracts myself. Can I assume you reported the man to the agency you work for?" I nodded. "Do you know what they are doing about it? Did they pull security video, try to see who it was?"

"I know they pulled the video, but they said they really couldn't tell who it was. They showed me his picture and I didn't recognize him at all. But I couldn't really see his face. He evidently knew the cameras were there and kept his head down and turned away. Then after my fall, he hung around, trying to get closer but too many people were helping me so he eased back out of the crowd and disappeared off the cameras. My agency made the suggestion to lay low for a while, get out of DC, so here I am. Very few people know about Steph, and I didn't tell anyone where exactly I was going. Just that I was going to visit family." I tried to pull my hand loose, but he wouldn't let go.

Lester was looking at me but I could see he was really thinking hard. Then he smiled. "I suppose you can't tell me anymore about what you do?" I shook my head. "This is the part where you say you could tell me, but then you'd have to kill me." He was grinning now.

"Considering I'm naked, I'm not sure how I would go about killing you at this point."

"Oh you could kill me. You almost did." He kissed me again, gentle and tender.

"Really?" I rubbed my hand on his chest. I kind of liked the idea that I could 'kill' him that way. Hmmmmm. I was humming again.

"Stop that!" He rolled over on me. I wiggled under him. "Stop that! I might forget that I am supposed to be giving you time to recuperate before my big plans this evening."

"Big plans? What big plans?" This sounded promising, but then his hard on also felt promising right now.

**** Lester's POV ****

God, she was going to kill me. I really wanted to let her recover, but she felt too good to stop. After what she had told me about being shoved, I knew I needed to get up and call Ranger and let him know the situation and that it was more serious than a pissy boyfriend. I wasn't going to make her tell me what she did at her job, but it was obviously related to her fall. Rangeman needed to know what was going on and make plans to keep her safe. She belonged to me now, and that meant she was part of the Rangeman family.

I kissed her until we ran out of breath. Shemade luscious wiggling motiions under me. "Uh, uh, uh! Not until tonight querida." She pouted and wiggled her hips. "We need to get up and start our day. Let's shower and I will take you out and about. How would you like to see Rangeman HQ and see where the action is?"

She slumped under me. "You're serious about waiting, aren't you?"

"Yes. You have enough pain without me adding to it. However nice causing that pain would be. Besides, thinking about it all day will make the results tonight that much more fun!" I rolled off her an on out of bed to my feet. "C'mon. Let's shower and get some coffee."

She grumbled, but got up. "I'm going first since I know you won't shower with me." She looked hopefully at me.

"Nope. That's part of taking a break. I wouldn't be able to leave you alone if I had to watch you rub yourself with soap." Just the thought of that was getting to me. "Go on before I change my mind!" I pushed her towards the bathroom. She grinned, ducked in the door and closed it. A minute later I heard the shower running so I went to the kitchen to start a new pot of coffee and put in a call to Ranger.

****x

*****o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Diosa – goddess

mi pequeña diosa, deja que te ayude con este – my little goddess, let me help you with this.

Boy, writing smut is fun and rather hard too, pardon the pun! I keep getting distracted thinking about it and forget to write it down. Sheesh. This chapter is just for Lester and Ellie, and is really part of another whole chapter but was getting too big. So Lester and Ellie in this one, and more about what's going on coming up. Stand by! Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Ranger and Steph on a date date!

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

****x

*****o

********Chapter 9**********

*** Steph's POV ****

It had been a busy day and it was only 11:30am. First came the meeting with Ranger going over numbers and plans with me. It lasted about an hour and was a good meeting and I left feeling like I could conquer anything. That was at 9:30am. Then Ranger and Tank were hold up for a while in Rangers office, then Bobby was called in. Shortly after that, Ranger and Tank headed for the smaller conference room and called in a few employees that had been on the last job, the one that had just finished, and then a new meeting with few more like Hector, Zero, and me along with connections to the other offices was called. That was just half an hour ago. A lot can change around here in short order sometimes.

It was quiet in the conference room, despite having a number of Rangeman employees present. Including me. I usually don't sit still very well, but I was thinking hard. Something was teasing my spidey sense and had been since I got to work this morning. Once Ranger got us all together to talk about the debrief, it got worse. All those comments and questions about families and friends. Questioning these guys loyalties. It was just wrong.

Something was coming, but I had no idea what or from where. This whole situation sounded like some sort of movie plot full of government conspiracies with dark endings and Bruce Willis swinging in going 'Yippee yo Kiyay, mother fucker!' guns blazing. But there was no Bruce Willis. And, while we had plenty of guns around here to 'blaze' away, we couldn't seem to see who to point them at. We couldn't even say for sure it was real, but both Ranger and I had alarm bells going off. It was frustrating.

Ranger looked around the room at his crew. Most of the Trenton core team was there, including Lester who had shown up at the office with Ellie in tow about 40 minutes ago, as well as the members of the last tactical team (that's how they referred to whatever it was they had done) from the Miami office and the heads of Boston, Atlanta, and Miami.

"So, we've reviewed the questions that were asked and all of us had a similar experience. The questions were out of line, invasive and seem to do a lot of insinuating without a lot of outright accusations. I got some indication of the kind of accusations they want to make with my 'one on one' in the General's office. Where does that leave us exactly?" Ranger sat straight in his chair, his shoulders tensed.

There was a sigh over the phone, then Gabe from the Miami office piped up. "It leaves us pretty much where we started, only now we know there's trouble coming."

Lester piped up. "We need to do some background work on this guy and this senator he works for. Find out his backers, see if any of them are associated with enemies we've made." A chorus of agreement followed that.

I was thinking in a different direction. "I think we should have Rangeman lawyers go over all our paper work to make sure that we have everything absolutely in line. Make sure that we have no missing documents for employment. Make sure all our business and personal filings are in line. If these guys are going after us on a personal level, we better be prepared on a personal level." My experience with the burg grapevine and gossip factory was making me think of how easy it is to ruin someone with innuendo. "All it would take is some well placed rumors to cause a lot of problems. Believe me it is not easy to fight rumor unless we set our own rumors loose first. Finding out who is behind it won't stop it if it's already under way."

Ranger looked at me a long moment. "In other words, we treat this like a psychological battle rather than a physical confrontation."

I nodded. "My spidey sense is going crazy here. I don't really understand what they would gain from this sort of attack on us, but someone thinks there is something to gain. We need to counter this and make it more costly to go after us than to leave us alone."

Ranger sat quiet for a moment. This was not exactly the kind of battle he was trained for or engaged in. They would have to be supremely careful and lucky. And well connected.

I turned to Ranger again. "Is there anyone we can get in our corner with some power to counter this?"

"Maybe. I'll make some calls and see what I can find out."

Tank waded in. "We also need to stay focused on our clients so current business is not affected by this."

Ranger nodded. "I agree. Let's pick select teams to go after specifics. Gabe, you set up a team to review all the business documentation on our people. Pull in the lawyers from all the offices. Make sure we are all clean and in line. Terry, you check on politicians from your vantage point there in Atlanta. You have some good lower level political contacts that might be good for early warning. Marshall, you supply assistance personnel to the other offices as needed from there in Boston, and run intel on who the Senator and his cronies are involved with outside the political office. Trenton will act as clearing house for what we find and will try to get some intel from other back channels." Ranger looked around the room. "Let's roll people."

Everyone started getting up to go, and Ranger quickly stopped Tank, Lester, Bobby and myself. "Hang on a minute. I need to talk to you guys."

**** Lester's POV ****

This whole thing had me pissed off. It didn't make any sense. I couldn't wrap my mind around what someone would gain from this type of attack. And it was an attack that some enemy had just telegraphed to us. And on top of the problems with Ellie. God. I want a vacation.

Ranger looked at us all then asked Bobby how Ellie was doing. "She's all right. Her arm is a bit sore and there seems to be an inflammatory process going on, but there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage from the other nite. I want her to do some more physical therapy and she obviously hasn't been doing anything formal since being here. I've offered to help her with it, but she put me off."

I cut in. "She'll use your help man. I'll make sure she does."

Steph smirked a bit. "Good luck with making her. She's worse than I am about that kind of stuff."

"Yeah. I got that already, believe me. I will talk to her about it." I just shook my head. I was pretty sure that if I talked with her about it and let her know my concerns she would go along. I hoped so anyway.

Ranger looked at Tank. "Any progress on getting the security video she told Les about? We need to see what really happened and try to get more information out of the video if we can."

"I called my contact on the DC police. He says there is an incident report and they have copies of the video from 2 buildings he can send me." Tank checked his phone. "Got a text says I should have it in my inbox. I'll get it to Hector for review."

"All right then. In the mean time we need to keep someone with her at all times. Lester, I assume you want the body guard position?" Ranger looked amused.

"Yeah, I want it." Like I would allow anyone else to guard her body.

"That's it then. Tank, you'll follow up on the video and police report with Hector. Let's look at schedules to make sure someone is with the ladies at all times until this gets figured out."

With that, the meeting broke up and I went to find my woman.

**** Ellie's POV ****

I was sitting on the desk in Steph's office, surrounded by really hunky guys. I was really having to work at not panting. Whoa Nellie. In front of me, holding my hurt arm and admiring my scar was Woody, next to him and doing his best to not blush was a really big guy named Hal, cute in a boy next door meets He-man kinda way. On the other side of Woody was a guy named Hank who was really gorgeous in a short, dark and handsome way. Of course, he was short only in relation to the other 2, being only about 5'9" tall. They were all three flirting madly with me. Really nice for my feminine ego for sure. God they are hot! I love big men! Suddenly there was a noise behind Woody that sounded like a growl. Woody turned slightly and there stood Lester all stone faced and stiff.

"What is going on here?" He sounded furious. Woody turned back to me, grinned and winked. Oh boy. I think he was about to give Lester a figurative wedgie. This should be interesting.

"We're just admiring this gorgeous little woman. It isn't everyday that we have 2 beautiful women in the house." Woody grinned at Steph as she slid past him to hop up on the desk next to me.

She socked him in the arm. "What? Am I not enough for you?"

He laughed. "No offense, Steph, but you're look and no touch, even more so now you're a full time employee. This one we can touch." He slid his hand down my arm.

Lester growled and started to say something, but Steph's stomach took that moment to let it be known that she was hungry. Mine went off next growling loudly. She and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Woody grinned. "Besides, we were waiting on you Steph. We want to go to Pino's for subs and thought you'd go along."

"Yah think?"

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

We all rode in one big SUV to Pino's. Lester had insisted on riding in the back with me. He was next to the driver's side door with me in between him and Steph. Hank was on the other side of Steph next to the passenger side door. Woody was driving with Hal riding shotgun. Lester had insisted on picking me up and setting me on the seat. When we got there, he insisted on lifting me down to the pavement.

Woody protested. "That's not fair Lester. You don't get to hog all the pretty women just because you're the boss's cousin!"

"Fuck off!"

"Lester! Be nice. Woody was very nice to me the day I got here. He kept me from falling down the stairs at the train station." I reached out and patted Woody on the arm.

Then Steph chimed in. "Yeah. He was really impressive carrying her down those stairs too!" She giggled at the look on Lester face.

"He what?"

We were strolling into Pino's by this time. I noticed it was full of cops and firemen and they were all looking our way and listening hard. Some were already on cell phones, and I remembered what Steph said about the grapevine around here reporting everything that went on. I slipped my hand into Lester's and leaned in close to him so that only he heard what I said. "Stop fussing. You won after all." I smiled up at him.

He sighed, shook his head. "Fine. Let's eat."

We made our way across the restaurant and settled at a long table near the back. It was originally set as a table for 8, but because of the size of our Rangeman guys, we took up most of it. We all ordered then proceeded to cut up and have a good time. There was a lot of Lester teasing going on, which he no doubt deserved. Steph and I just sat and ate and giggled and enjoyed ourselves. It was sometime near the end of our lunch after the subs had been eaten and cleared and the chocolate cake delivered, that I first noticed the quiet in the rest of the place. I looked up to see Morelli blowing across the restaurant like a southern thunderstorm, aimed right at Stephanie.

Her face fell and immediately looked almost fearful. It pissed me the hell off. I was not going to tolerate this. I looked at Steph and gave her a look. She flinched a bit, bit her lower lip and gave me a tiny head shake. The hell I'm not. I waited.

"Stephanie, we need to talk. We need to talk now." Morelli leaned in aggressively towards Steph. From the smell, he had been drinking already, even though it was still fairly early in the day. At least he didn't appear to be falling down drunk – yet.

"No Joe. We have nothing more to say."

"The hell we don't!" Morelli's voice began climbing in volume. He continued to yell at her about not calling him, where had she been, and who she was with all the time waving his arms around. Steph just shank down in the chair and tried to disappear. I felt the guys tense and start to turn in their seats, getting ready to pounce, but they didn't get the chance.

**** Lester's POV ****

Aw crap! God damn cop! I had heard his father had been a mean drunk, but that Morelli had managed to avoid the same fate. I could smell the brewery on him so he must have changed that. The man began yelling at Steph and I looked at the other guys. They each nodded to me. The moment he touched her we had him on assault and would act.

There was a blur of movement next to me and suddenly the cop was covered in water, little ice cubes falling off his head and shirt. Ellie had just tossed the entire pitcher of water from our table in his face! Oh my god. I waited for his next move. Just let him touch her…

Ellie put her right hand over her mouth, then started talking, using a southern drawl that coated everyone in the vicinity with corn syrup, it was so sweet.

"Oh my goodness! Look what clumsy lil ol' me just did! I'm so sorry sir! I just knocked that ol pitcher right on you and now you're awwl wet!" She was ineffectually dabbing at him with a napkin. Hank was choking on what sounded like laughter and Hal was turning red, looking like he was going to explode from holding everything in. Woody was grinning but still was waiting on events. Steph sat looking at Morelli with both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

Morelli just stood there for a moment with his mouth open in shock. Then he looked at Ellie and started to turn red again. I pushed back and made ready to grab Ellie and get her out of the way. She was so much smaller than he was that he could do a lot of damage just slapping her. She jumped up and glared right back at him.

"I could have you arrested for assaulting a police officer and…"

"Really? You didn't say you were a cop, your shield is not in view and you're not carrying, so I don't see a cop to assault. I see a pissy drunk who doesn't know when to quit. Are you just really drunk? Or are you really that stupid?"

Morelli's left hand curled into a fist, his jaw clenched and he moved towards her. Before anything else could be said or done, Ellie leaned forward and said something quietly to him. Morelli reared back and paled. He looked down at his fist, up and around at the table, then back at his fist. He uncurled it. He looked back at Ellie, then at Steph, then turned and left Pino's like he'd seen a ghost.

Ellie watched him for a moment, then sat down and looked at Steph.

"What did you say to him?" Woody asked then looked at me and I looked back. I shrugged. I had no idea. Ellie and Steph had locked eyes, and there was some sort of weird girl communication going on. Then Steph calmly reached over, grabbed a fork and took a big bite of chocolate cake. Ellie followed suit. They both closed their eyes and moaned – in stereo.

We stared at them. Ellie opened her eyes and went "What? You don't like chocolate?" She cut her eyes at Steph who was snorting and giggling around another mouth full of cake.

"You're AWWWLL wet!" Steph mimed, nearly choking on cake.

Ellie managed to swallow. "Well he was! And did you see the piece of lemon on top of his head?" Both women went off into peals of laughter. Hank lost it, then Hal did. Woody tried valiantly, then he succumbed, and by that time I was laughing pretty hard myself.

I managed to take a breath and look around to see many of the cops laughing along, including Carl and Big Dog. There were a number of people smiling and snickering as they talked on their cell phones. Hunh. Guess this incident was going against Morelli. He did look a lot stupid this time.

I looked at Ellie with new eyes. She managed the whole situation without blows, gunshots, bloodshed, or arrests, she had the burg grapevine buzzing in favor of Steph, and all without causing Steph to want to hide. What the hell did she say to the man? I was beginning to see there were depths to this little woman that I liked. She had real guts. And brains. Hunh. I had always gone for tall, stacked women who weren't stupid, but weren't brainiacs either. I was going to have to change my mind about that. Ellie was short, beautiful, smart, devious, and built. I wonder if she's ready to go back to the apartment for a 'rest'? I shifted in my seat trying to get comfortable as flashbacks of this morning's action ran through my mind. I was hot and getting hotter.

**** Steph's POV ****

The rest of the day went by pretty well. I got a call from my mom on the company land line because I wasn't answering my cell for anyone but Rangeman, Mary Lou, and Ellie. My voice mail pretty much filled up, but for once I didn't care. My Mom got through to my desk phone and I answered without thinking. She just whined and ranted the usual crap, how can you do this to me, I'm so embarrassed by you, poor Joseph, settle down, yada yada. So I told her I had to go back to work or my boss was gonna fire me. Then I hung up without saying good bye. Sheesh. These guys were rubbing off on my phone manners.

"Bad call, Babe?" Ranger was leaning against the door frame of my office. As far as I know that was the first time he had come over.

"Not really. Just my mother whining 'Why me?' as usual."

"You OK?"

"Yeah. Morelli is the one who lost this time on the burg grapevine, not me."

Ranger smiled one of his almost smiles and his eyes crinkled a bit. "I think I like your friend, Babe."

"I know! She was so cool. And it was hysterical!"

"Sorry I missed it." He looked at me all amused. "I wanted to remind you about our date. I got us reservations at 7 and that it's currently 5:15. I know how you like to have time to get ready."

"Are you serious! Lord, I still have to get a ride."

"No worries. Hal and Hank are headed to a client out past your place. They are waiting in the garage for you now." He smiled a full Ranger smile. "Wear something nice. I have reservations at Rossini's."

I blinked. Oh dinner. His smile could still blind me at times, especially when he surprises me with it. "OK." I stood up and gathered my stuff. "See you at seven."

"Babe." He turned and walked away.

**** Ellie's POV ****

After we got back to Rangeman, Lester and I went home to Steph's apartment. I was so full I thought I was gonna bust and all I wanted was a nap. We both changed into lounge around the house wear, Lester in sweat pants and a sleeve less wife beater and me in a pair of boy style boxers and a soft baby doll tee shirt. Both of us were commando underneath. I guess neither of us like underwear. Lester was feeling all amorous and persuaded me to spend some time on the couch for some heavy petting. We had a good time cuddling and kissing and talking. OK, mostly cuddling and kissing. We dozed off together during some home improvement show on cable. I woke up a little later needing the facilities and managed to extract myself from Lester without waking him.

Once refreshed, I grabbed a soda from the fridge and settled at the dining table to check my email accounts. I needed to see what was going on. I was still clicking away when Steph blew into the apartment about 5:45 all energized about having a date with Ranger at 7. So for the next half hour she primped and buffed and powdered herself to within an inch of her life, then she and I went to work on hair and makeup. I hadn't had that much fun since college. We giggled and carried on, with Lester making lewd remarks in the background which made us giggle and laugh even harder. By the time Steph was looking for the necklace she wanted to wear, she was ready and glowing from all the hilarity. It was 6:55pm.

Someone knocked on the door, and I shouted that I would get it. I had to be Ranger and I wanted a good look at this guy since the only look I'd had at him had been after that thing last night. And I was pretty sure he was gonna be dressed for success, if you know what I mean. I opened the apartment door and about passed out. Swooned. Drooled and lost it. Yikes. It was Ranger all right. Looking like sex incarnate in expensive black tailored slacks, black loafers, a thin black belt, topped by what looked like an equally expensive black button down silk shirt, open at the neck by two buttons, with the sleeves rolled up twice. Muscles everywhere, he really filled out his clothes beautifully. And he had a package. Yowser! His hair was loose and shiny and his eyes were dark. His only adornment was a black leather banded watch on his left arm. I managed to close my mouth and then I did what I always did when I was in a situation where my hormones were firing and I was uncomfortable. I smart mouthed. And I pulled the tiger's tail at the same time.

Using my best Mae West attitude I slid my right hand up the door jamb, and put my left hand on my hip and opened my mouth with my best southern sultry tone and let my alligator mouth override my hummingbird ass. "Hey big boy. Wanna give it a go?"

Ranger looked at me and both eyebrows went up a little, then he cut his eyes behind me where I could hear Lester saying something to Steph. The next thing I knew, I had collided with a very masculine, very muscular chest covered in black silk and my feet were about a foot off the ground. I instinctively put my arms around his neck and felt Ranger's lips against my ear. His arms tightened around me, pressing my braless breasts into his chest.

"I begin to see why Lester enjoys this so much," He murmured into my ear. Behind us I could hear Lester starting to curse in Spanish.

"You are a wicked, wicked man," I murmured back in his ear.

"You really have no idea." His hands slid down over my back onto my ass which was commando under the little boxer style shorts I had on. Suddenly I felt him squeeze both cheeks at the same time. "Nice."

I only had time to draw in a shocked breath, when there was a very male roar behind me and I was suddenly ripped off of Ranger and slammed backwards into Lester's chest. He was still cursing rapidly in Spanish. Lester swung me around back into the apartment and set me on my feet, then turned to Ranger and yelled some more.

"MINE! Dammit!" I peeked past Lester to see Ranger cracking up, hanging onto the door jamb for support.

"Sorry man" **laughter** "it was such" **laughter** "an easy" **laughter** "target" **laughter** "Couldn't pass" **laughter** "it up." **laughter** "got you back" **more laughter**.

By this time, Steph had made it out to the general area and was leaning against the wall behind her laughing too. Ranger's hilarity was contagious. I caught her eye, winked, then rolled my eyes back at Lester.

"Wow, Steph. I can really understand why you said he was the best! Geez, he's buil…eek!" Lester yanked me back against him and squeezed.

"Dammit Ranger," he yelled through gritted teeth, "Leave mine alone!" He waved at Steph, "There's yours!"

That sent everyone off into more gales of laughter, including me. Lester even joined rather sheepishly at the end. Once the laughter died down somewhat, I saw Ranger take his first good look at Steph. She was dressed in a beautiful sapphire blue dress that made her eyes stand out, with a fitted bodice that flared into a full skirt at her hips. The hem hit a couple of inches above her knees, and the neckline was wide and designed to make it look like the dress was about to slide off her shoulders. It had ¾ sleeves with little pearl buttons at the edge. She was wearing a simple strand of pearls around her neck and her shoes were black, peep toed with a 3 inch heel. We had dressed her curls up on her head, with a few curls left to artlessly dangle as though they had just come loose. She looked very elegant and very beautiful.

I watched as Ranger's eyes darkened and he straightened his back. "So I see," he was still smiling, but the tone of the smile had changed to fondness, even love. Ranger reached down and picked up a long, thin white box with a silver bow on it where it had been propped against the wall of the hall. He stepped into the apartment and up to Steph. He raised his hand, touched her cheek and simply said "Beautiful." Then he handed her the box.

Steph looked at the box incredulously. It could only be flowers of some sort, but it was too thin for a dozen roses. She pulled the bow and the silver ribbon fell away onto the floor. She opened the box and inside was one perfect single long stemmed red rose. The stem was wrapped in the same silver ribbon as the bow had been, and it had one of those watering tubes on the end. All the thorns had been removed. Steph sighed. "Oh." She lifted it out and smelled it. Ranger was standing close, still smiling down at her.

"It's for you tonight. I want you to bring it along so you can have it while we dance."

Oh, wow. The man was doing romance. Steph would never stand a chance.

"Dance? We're going dancing?"

"Yeah, Babe. I want to dance with you." Ranger looked over at me and Lester, then proceeded to gather Steph up and get her headed out of the apartment.

Lester couldn't leave well enough alone, of course. "Have fun stormin' the castle!"

Ranger growled and shut the apartment door. I socked Lester in the chest. He looked down at me. "You are in deep shit."

"What did I do?" Les was doing a whole He-Man dangerous vibe thing that sent a bolt of pure lust into all the right places.

"I found you draped over Ranger's chest and he was fondling you!" Lester took a step towards me.

"It wasn't my fault! He grabbed me!" I pushed against the hard male chest in front of me.

"Right." Lester leaned over and hoisted me over his shoulder. I shrieked.

"Put me down!" Lester swatted my butt. I pounded on his back with my good arm. Then Lester yanked my shorts down and smacked my bare ass! "DAMMIT! Don't you dare do that again or I'll…EEEEK!"

**** Steph's POV ****

I heard Ellie shrieking from inside the apartment as Ranger and I headed for the elevator. I smiled thinking about the great makeup sex they were going to have. I loved Lester, and I loved Ellie and I was glad they seemed happy with each other. I hoped that they can work things out to stay together and have their someday. I looked at Ranger as we walked along. He was holding my hand and seemed relaxed.

We got on the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. The old elevator started its' laborious descent. I stood next to Ranger and waited, with my hand still in his.

"Am I in trouble?" I almost giggled. He sounded a little tiny bit worried. I wasn't going to let him off the hook that easy. I like playful Ranger, but he had been a wicked boy.

"That depends." I waited a couple of beats.

"Am I in trouble?" He asked me again.

"Did you enjoy it?" Oooh. Loaded question. No answer is gonna be a good answer kind of question. I was curious how he would handle it. I am gooood.

"Babe." I pulled my hand out of his. Not gettin' away with just that.

"Did. You. Enjoy. It?" I cut my eyes at him and saw him swallow.

"I'm a man. Your friend is rather voluptuous and she wasn't wearing underwear." He took a deep breath and jumped into the deep end. "Yeah, I enjoyed it."

"Hunh." How about that. He didn't lie to me or try to explain fondling my friend away as though I had imagined it. The elevator doors opened and I headed for the front door. Behind me I heard Ranger plaintively behind me.

"Am I in trouble?" I pushed out the front door, and of course his turbo was parked right by the front door. How does he always get the best parking spaces? I walked towards it and stopped next to the passenger side. Ranger walked up behind me, leaned into my back and slid his hands around my waist.

"Am I in trouble here, Babe?" I raised the rose and smelled it, smiling to myself.

"Well, since I got the see the look on Lester's face, and he did kinda deserve it," I giggled. "I guess I'll forgive you…" I turned in his arms to glare up at him. "THIS time. Don't ever do that again."

"Babe," he leaned forward and kissed me, then leaned his forehead on mine. "I have no need or wish to touch anyone that way but you."

"Promise?" Oh lord. I couldn't leave it alone. I had to ask him to promise.

"I promise." My mouth dropped open a bit. He kissed me again. "Course I expect the same promise from you. No fondling anyone but me."

_Like there is anyone else worth fondling. _

"Good to hear, Babe." Shit. Said that out loud.

Ranger reached past me to open the turbo and help me settle in. He reached in and pulled the seat belt across me. I looked at him doing it. "I don't want anything to happen to you Babe. I want to take good care of you tonight." He straightened, closed my door, went around to the driver's side and angled in.

OoOoOoOoOo

Rossini's was one of the best Italian places in the burg, and one of the most exclusive. It was old Italian roots and reeked of money. I didn't get to eat here very often cause it was a bit out of my league, but I loved the sausage and Fettuccini Alfredo. It was my favorite dish. But I also loved everything else they offered too. Maybe I would go with an alternative tonight. The Alfredo was heavy, and I wanted to be light on my feet to dance, and whatever else Ranger might be in the mood for tonight. Including orgasms, I hoped.

The maître d' acknowledged Ranger with a nod. "Mr. Manoso, welcome back. We have your usual table ready for you." He led us to a table near the back where Ranger could sit with his back to the wall and still have a commanding view of the restaurant. He left us with the menus. "I will return shortly with the wine you indicated."

I looked around. I hadn't been here in a long time, but nothing had really changed. There was elegant décor with real table linens and silverware, a large main dining salon, with several smaller salons opening off it, and a small dance floor in the center of the main room. We had been seated in one of the small salons, off the back side of the main room by the wall.

I looked at Ranger. "You bring all your dates here?" I wasn't at all sure I liked that idea. The idea of him and other dates.

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He gave me his almost smile. "I have never brought a date here. The only people I've dined with here are my lawyers and some clients. I like bringing local clients here because it's known as a very classy place and has a lot of local history associated with it. It's good for business."

Hunh. "So I'm your new business manager and bringing me here is good for business?"

"Babe." He took my hand, kissed the back of it, then pressed it against his chest. "I brought you here because I know you like it and I wanted you to be happy. It seemed like a good place to start and have our first date."

I searched his eyes for a moment, then what he said sunk in. Our FIRST date. Meaning more than one. Meaning he was intending to take me out more. Meaning a future. Cool.

I smiled at him. "You're right. I do like it. Thank you for bringing me here."

"My pleasure. Let's order, then we can dance a little before our food comes."

He smiled a small smile at me. It was a sweet smile. I liked it.

The waiter took our order and then Ranger took me to the dance floor. The music was soft and a little slow and kind of jazzy. It was easy to close dance to. Ranger pulled me against him and began slowly moving us around the floor, deftly avoiding the other couples that were there too. I was tall enough in my shoes to put my head against his shoulder. His neck was close and I could smell the scent of bulgari and warm Ranger. A unique scent that always made me happy. Between my successes at work, being able to ignore my mother for the first time in my life today, and knowing that this powerful sexy man was with me because he wanted to be with me, made me feel powerful in a sexy sort of way. I decided to see how far I could push it with him, here on the dance floor. I snuggled into him and tipped my head up so that I could just touch his neck with my lips. I kissed the spot I had reached. I felt him twitch slightly, and I felt him getting harder against me, so I touched the spot I had just kissed with the tip of my tongue and tasted him. Yum.

Ranger turned his head and said quietly, "If you keep doing that, I will have to take you back to our table, rip your clothes off and have you as an appetizer."

"Hmmm, just an appetizer?" I nibbled the skin on his neck with my lips. "Surely I am more than an appetizer?"

He growled, and his arms tightened around me. Then he stopped dancing, took my hand and headed back to our table. I was grinning like a loon.

We got back to our table and he made a point to set my chair close to his and sit us back down. He took my hand and held it in his lap. I rubbed the back of my hand up and down his zipper as the waiter set the appetizer Ranger had ordered in front of us. I noticed Ranger was breathing a little faster than his normal pace. As soon as the waiter left, Ranger pulled my hand up and kissed it. "You need to stop that. I want us to enjoy our time together not set fire to the restaurant."

I looked at this man, this man that I loved more than anything on this earth and realized I was very happy to be with him. He must have seen some of that in my eyes. He brought his hand to my face and spoke softly.

"Babe, I love you. You know that. I want to romance you. I want to enjoy being with you when we're not working, and I want to have some fun with you. Just the two of us and whatever we decide to do." He smiled a small special smile that made my heart flutter. "Relax mi preciosa. Let me take care of you tonight."

I thought about it, what he said, what he was offering. I thought it sounded really fine. I hadn't had that many dates in my life where the man was trying to romance me. Ok, fine, make that zero. I mean, I'd had a lot of first dates where the guy is trying really hard to impress you and hoping really hard to get in your pants. Those can be fun, but they are not romantic. Too much stress, y'know, will I or won't I and will he accept it. Cause I never did. Not on a first. I just had to know someone better than that. I had to trust them and that took time and experience. Most guys today will give you a couple of dates and expect at least second base in return. So I didn't get a lot of third dates.

Wait, I had been married right? Must've been some romance, right? Shit. The Dick only wanted the trophy wife, the dumb little bimbo who would put up with anything to have marriage, the house and the requisite kids. He said he married me because the law partners where he worked liked me. I guess he thought I was a brainless bimbo because I had just acquiesced to everything my mom said I should do, what I thought I was supposed to do. So no romance there. And no dates after the third one cause my mom decided we should marry once I brought him to dinner one night. I went along and Dickie decided he didn't have to try.

Morelli never took me anywhere except Pino's. Oh, and this Chinese restaurant occasionally, when he got tired of eating in. We kind of just fell into bed once upon a time and then started the whole cycling relationship, on, off, with not a lot going on relationship wise. I asked Morelli once why we never went out to eat or to the movies and he looked at me rather blank, then asked why we'd want to do that. I answered that it was something couples did, y'know, romance. His answer hurt like hell, and nearly caused me to pack up and leave. "Cupcake, we're already a couple and have a relationship. We don't need it." Morelli had always gotten women easily and never had to work for it, so why start now? I mean, like, everything was all settled. Shit.

I focused back on Ranger, who hadn't moved, but was waiting patiently for me to decide, as he always did. Hunh. That was a deep realization. One I needed to explore some more on my own. But for right now, I wanted him to romance me. I wanted him to want to romance me. And I have a feeling that Ranger romance was going to be good.

I turned my head and touched his fingers with my lips. "I would like that very much. And thank you."

He smiled and caressed my cheek. "My pleasure entirely. Now our food has arrived and I want to enjoy you eating it." He picked up something and held it to my mouth. Oh boy, food. Here we go.

****x

*****o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Diosa – goddess

OK. So now we get to see Ranger Romance. Purrrrrrr! Next chapter will be romance and smut and revelations.

Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Ranger and Steph on a date date! SMUT warning.

The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

****x

*****o

********Chapter 9**********

*** Steph's POV ****

Ranger held the appetizer to my lips. I opened my mouth and took the bite off the fork and started to chew. Suddenly there was an explosion of taste in my mouth as the flavors of cheese and spices and tomatoes burst across my tongue. I couldn't help it, I moaned. Ranger smiled. "I never get tired of that." Wow. I think this is some sort of antipasto but it was incredible. Ranger offered me another bite, I took it chewed and moaned. He was still smiling, but now he was shifting slightly in his chair. He lifted a third bite, but this time I caught his hand and took the fork myself.

"You should try this too." And held the fork for him. He looked past it to me, one eyebrow slightly quirked. "Close your eyes and open your mouth." When he did, I tucked the fork into his mouth and he closed it and took the bite off the fork. He opened his eyes and I stopped him.

"No. Close your eyes." He complied. "Now, slowly chew, let the flavors slide across your tongue. Concentrate on the flavors and textures and let them fill your senses." He followed my instructions and a tiny line formed on his forehead. "Breathe in slowly as you allow the flavors to coat your mouth, then slowly swallow." He did, and moaned slightly. I smiled. "You see? That's why I moan."

Ranger just smiled back, leaned in and kissed me, licking my lips and tasting like the tomatoes and spices himself. Then he took the fork and fed me another bite, and shifted when I moaned. We continued like that, sharing bites, then kissing, until the appetizer was gone. He took my hand, lifted it and kissed my wrist. "That has to be the most exquisite appetizer I have ever eaten." Sitting there in my damp panties, I had to agree.

Still holding my hand, he stood up. "Come on, Babe. Let's dance again." We headed to the dance floor, and passed a couple as they were eating. The woman had been facing towards our table and appeared to be in some sort of pain. As I brushed past her, she whispered what sounded like "lucky bitch". I guess she caught the byplay between Ranger and I and it was pretty hot. She seemed to be fidgeting a little. I just smiled. Lucky bitch is right. We arrived at the dance floor and danced slowly together for a little while. He was leading and all I had to do was lean against him and enjoy being in his arms and feeling safe and cared for. We danced for a little while, then went back to our table where our waiter served dinner. I had chosen to eat a pasta dish with little bowties, a sweet pasta sauce and chicken. Ranger had roasted chicken and a little side of pasta with some veggies in it. I think there was even some parmesan cheese on the pasta. Must be giving the body as a temple a little break tonight.

As we ate, we were quiet. Unusual for me, but I was feeling comfortable with Ranger and was enjoying feeling close. And I was thinking, probably too much. I mean, here was this powerful, handsome, sexy man who I was pretty sure was very rich in his own right, and he was with me. It boggled my mind. I wanted him, oh I absolutely wanted him. But why would he want me? That was a question. And a fear too, I guess.

Suddenly, I asked him a question. "Am I really doing a good job at Rangeman?" and then I wished I hadn't asked.

Ranger put down his fork and looked at me. "Of course you are. You are a very bright and talented lady. You have the will and the means to do an excellent job, as long as you don't second guess yourself. You know my business, and you have a degree giving you the training you need to really do the job."

"I just sometimes feel like a fraud. I got my degree, but it's just business administration and …"

"Babe. You got the degree and you were in the top 10 in your class. Did you cheat or fake anything?"

"Of course not!" And of course he knew I was in the top 10 because of a dang background search on me.

"Then don't make it into nothing. Getting a degree is hard work. I went to Rutgers myself before I joined the Army and continued my education even while I was in. It takes real work to get a degree." He looked at me intently and I had to believe him.

"I forgot that. You told me before that you spent 2 years at Rutgers. Did you ever finish your degree?" I hoped I wasn't insulting him or hurting his feelings. I wasn't implying he was less because he had only done 2 years.

He inhaled, then looked at me kind of strange. "Well, I only went to Rutgers for 2 years, but I got my degree at the end of those 2 years. You know I had been living in Miami? Well, I had been in an accelerated program in high school and had taken or tested out of most of the Mickey Mouse courses already. Once I got to Rutgers, I was able to focus on the core courses and take a heavier load and graduated with a BA in Management and Business Strategy in 2 years. I joined the Army with my new degree."

I stared at him. "Wow." He shrugged. "You said you took more school while you were in. More business courses?" I was thinking accounting or something to help him set up his business.

"Not exactly. I went ahead and got my Masters in Global Business Management." He was looking at me, watching me. I had to think about this. Ranger had an MBA in global business.

I stared at him. "No wonder you're so good at things."

"Not that good, or I would have paid more attention to costs. It took you to straighten that out for me. And those two kids tearing up my business at Rangeman. Then you came up with the idea of extending technology into what we do in the field. I wasn't thinking in that way about the business at all." He smiled at me.

"You have a lot more things going on that are not monitoring alarms and picking up skips, don't you?" I was thinking about the amount of money he seemed to have access to that was not Rangeman money, as well as hints of real estate and stock exchange involvement that I had gotten after spending some time with him. And that black titanium personal Amex card. I had googled that and it also hinted at way more than just Rangeman money.

"Babe." He didn't seem inclined to say more.

I looked at him a long moment, realizing that this man had a lot of depth to him. What is it that they say, still waters run deep? I realized I wanted to see what was under the surface of that deep water.

We finished eating the dinner portion, and Ranger asked me to dance again. Like I would say no. We danced, and it was magical. I love Ranger. I can say that to myself and not panic now. I love him. Cool. I love him. I like this feeling. Don't get me wrong. There is still a lot to be afraid of, like really needing a man who you can't control or predict. Also, he's not going to be easy to get into a relationship with. Well, a deeper relationship, because no matter what he has said in the past, we've been in a relationship for a long time. I am not going to back off this time, and I am going to make sure he knows it, somehow. _No more running away at the first sign of trouble or honest disagreement either._ **sigh** More adult Stephanie to deal with.

"Something's burning Babe. Want to share?" I could feel his chest vibrate, we were dancing that closely.

"Not right now. Not here. Maybe later." A lot later. _Coward. It needs to be sooner rather than later and you know it._ Adult Stephanie seems to be talking to me a lot lately. I'm getting used to her. I think.

"I ordered you dessert. You want to go back and have that now?" He sounded amused.

Hmmm. Desert or cuddle Ranger? Hmmmm. He leaned into me and whispered in my ear. "It's chocolate Tiramisu." I sucked in a breath. "You know you want it. Chocolate." The last word was said with a definite Spanish accent, in a deep sexy voice right in my ear. I'm not sure what was most responsible for the rush I got or the further ruination of my panties, the thought of orgasmic chocolate tiramisu, or the orgasmic voice in my ear. I was thinking about it. "Babe?" I leaned back and looked at him.

"OK. You convinced me. Dessert sounds good." Let's see if he can figure out what exactly I wanted for dessert. He just smiled his 200 watt smile. More ruination of panties. Several of the ladies on the dance floor who were facing us as they danced, stumbled. Sorry ladies, he's mine.

We threaded our way back to the table and there sat the most glorious desert. Rossini's chocolate tiramisu. Oh boy. Ranger smiled, forked up a bite and held it to my lips. All I could think of was that appetizer course. Oh boy. I ate the bite, my eyes rolled back and I moaned. He held another bite for me, I ate it and moaned again. Then I took the fork, got a small bite for him (gotta guard the temple) and held it to his lips. He quirked an eyebrow at me. "C'mon. You know you want it. Chocolate…" I did my best Spanish accent imitation at him. He opened his mouth to comment and I popped the fork in, so he took the byte. "Roll it around in your mouth and really taste it." His eyes never left mine as he did.

"Tastes sweet But I still prefer the taste of plums." Oh god. Another rush so strong it was painful. I could remember exactly how much he loved the taste of this plum. I moaned. Ranger took the fork back and fed me the rest of the dessert, watching me and shifting in his chair as I moaned my way through it.

Once the last bite of tiramisu was eaten, Ranger leaned back in his chair. "You want some coffee, or to dance some more?"

I looked at the dance floor, and dismissed the coffee. I don't think I want to dance anymore, at least not here with all these people watching so I can't rip his clothes off and have him right there. "Can we go?"

"Of course. Anything you want." I got another rush.

**** Ranger's POV ****

She was going to kill me. Seriously. I just told her we could go and her eyes glazed over and the woman moaned. I was hard enough that I wasn't sure how gracefully I could walk out of here and to the car and she moans for no reason. Shit.

I signaled the waiter to get the check, and dropped my black Amex card on the payment tray. At least the waiter didn't take long to return the check. I filled out the slip, tucked everything away and decided that I had settled down enough to stand up and walk out without being too obvious. I hope. Standing up, I took her hand and led her out of the restaurant and across to my car. She seemed awfully quiet. I put my arms around her and pulled her against me. "What would you like to do now Babe? We can go to a movie or to a club. What do you want to do?" She sighed, then leaned back and looked up at me.

"Honestly?" I nodded. Whatever she wanted, no matter how chick it was. Even one of those damn cartoon movies if she wanted. "I just want to spend some time with you. Y'know, just the two of us cuddling and talking and being together?" Huh? That's a new one for her. "Is that OK?" OK? OK? Madre de dios. I wanted that more than anything.

Almost anything.

"Of course Babe. I told you, I just want you to be happy tonight." I kissed her sweet lips, dipped my tongue into her mouth and tasted tiramisu. Then I reached back and opened the car door for her and helped her in, then buckled her up with her seatbelt myself. I don't know why I did that, I just wanted to. And she seemed to like it.

"Thank you." She smiled in my face. I shut the passenger door and ran around to the drivers side, climbed in and headed for her place as quickly as I could before she changed her mind.

OoOoOoOo

Driving to her place was simple. I always knew where I was in relation to her apartment. But tonight I couldn't get in my zone. I was too aware of her sitting right next to me. The way she smelled. The way she felt in my arms dancing. All I could think of was her.

I pulled into her parking lot and glanced at the building looking towards her windows out of habit. I stopped the car and just stared.

"What's wrong?" Steph followed my line of sight to her windows. "Oh shit. I forgot about Les and Ellie being there." Uh hunh. And from the movement that was visible through the blinds in her apartment, they were, uh, busy.

"I'm not going up there." Steph pointed at the windows.

"Babe." Me either.

She thought for a minute, then looked at me. "Can you take me home with you?"

Madre de dios! Gracias! Of course she can come home with me. I just put the car in reverse, backed out of her lot and headed for Haywood and my apartment.

**** Steph's POV ****

The drive to Ranger's apartment was quiet. He had my hand in his and was holding it on his thigh. I liked this Ranger. Romantic Ranger. He was such a hot rush all evening long.

We pulled into the garage at Haywood and he parked in one of his personal spots. He got out and ran around to my side, opened the door and helped me out. We went to the elevator holding hands and he used his key fob to get us to the seventh floor and into his apartment.

"I'll be right back." I headed for the bathroom. When I came back out, I was carrying my shoes. I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room and stopped. The lights were low, and candles had been lit on the breakfast bar and on some of the tables around the windows. Music was playing, some sort of soft jazzy stuff and Ranger was standing in the living room, looking at me.

"Come dance with me." He held his hand out to me. I dropped my shoes and went into his arms and we began to sway to the music. He smelled wonderful. I nuzzled my face into his chest, breathing in the scent of bulgari and warm Ranger. He reached down and lifted me up against his chest and began to dance with me, my feet way off the ground. He was so strong. We danced that way for a while, just enjoying being together.

Finally, he allowed me to slide down his body back to the floor. His large strong hands cupped my face. "Babe, I want to take you to bed and make love to you. But if I do, if I take you to my bed, this time I'll never let you go."

"God, I hope not." He smiled.

"No regrets? No panic? I'm serious about not letting you go." He searched my eyes. I looked back and just thought _I love you_ at him. He smiled.

"I'm serious too, Ranger."

"Carlos. My name is Carlos." His thumbs caressed my cheeks.

"Then make love to me Carlos."

Suddenly he was in motion, lifting me up and heading for the bedroom. He set me down next to the bed and kissed me deeply, his tongue plundering my mouth. As soon as he raised his head, I started unbuttoning his shirt and pulling at it. He shrugged out of it and tossed it aside. I started pulling at his belt and he stopped me, clasping both my hands in one of his.

"No Babe. Let me love you tonight. I want to go slow and watch you come for me." A rush shot through me straight to my doodah and spreading through my belly. I held still for him. Carlos let go of my hands and reached behind me to unzip my dress. It loosened and fell to the floor, puddling around my feet. Carlos looked down at me, standing in front of him in only my strapless, black lacey push up bra and new black lacie hiphuggers from VS. His eyes darkened to almost black and his breathing rate increased. He raised his hand and slid his fingers down my chest and traced the outline of the bra over my breasts. "Beautiful." He leaned down and gently kissed my neck, and skimmed his lips over the tops of my breasts. I about passed out.

He slid his hands around my back and unhooked the bra, then tossed it aside. He looked at me, my nipples hard and my breasts flushed as I stood there in just panties. He kissed me then gently pushed me to sit on the bed.

"Take your hair down for me, Babe. I want to see your beautiful curls." I reached up and yanked all the pins out and threw them who knows where. I shook my head and let my hair fall around my shoulders and down my back. Carlos slid his fingers in my hair, then leaned over buried his face in my curls and inhaled.

"So pretty."

As I watched, he knelt down in front of me, between my knees. He hands moved to fondle my breasts, then he leaned over and began kissing, sucking and nipping first one breast, then the other. All the while murmuring in Spanish. I had no idea what he was saying, but he sounded hot. I had my hands on his shoulders hanging onto him to keep from falling over. I felt him slide his thumbs under my panties at my hips and start sliding them down past my bottom, down my legs, and then they were gone. His hands clamped onto my hips and began sliding me towards the edge of the bed. He raised his head and looked into my eyes. His were black and intense and he looked at me like I was a nice fat mouse and he was a hungry cat. Feral. I began to tremble in anticipation and sexual need.

My butt was at the edge of the bed. I still had a hold on his shoulders or I would have fallen backwards by now. He kept his eyes on mine. He lowered his head, and blew on my doodah. I yelled his name. "Carlos!" His eyes still on mine, he brushed his fingers against my clit and I made a sound like a whimper. His hands grasped my thighs, pushed them further apart, then over his shoulders as I flopped backwards on the bed. The next thing I felt was his tongue and fingers touching me, exploring my folds. He began licking and nipping with his mouth and caressing me with his fingers. I was almost out of my mind and all I could do was cry out, whimper and plead with him.

**** Rangers POV ****

I was living out one of the many fantasies I've had over my Babe. She was writhing on the bed making the most exciting sounds and pleading with me, calling my name. Dios, I was enjoying myself. Letting myself do those things I had been dreaming of for so long. She tasted sweet and was so hot. I pushed her close to the edge and backed her off several times, then finally brought her over the edge. I raised up on my knees to watch her face and gently pinched her clit and she came hard, screaming my name. She was beautiful when she came for me. I gently rubbed her inner thighs as she came back down to me, and took care of getting rid of my pants. She opened her eyes and looked at me, panting. Keeping eye contact, I rubbed my fingers across her and watched her eyes widen. I smiled then lowered myself to do it all over again. She made incoherent sounds and then began crying my name again. I was licking her, kissing her, nibbling on her, sliding my fingers in and out of her. She was so tight. Madre de dios! I was so hard I was in physical pain. I brought her to the edge, two then three times. On the forth, I gently nipped her clit with my teeth and felt her coming around my fingers screaming my name.

I had had enough. I rose to my feet, scooped her up and took us both to the center of the bed. She was trembling with need. I lay her down in front of me, her legs spread with me between them. I looked down at her, memorizing the way she looked right then, flushed with need, spread wide and wanting me. I lay down on her, my weight on my forearms and kissed her hard, my tongue possessing her mouth. She was whimpering. I began to slide my cock up and down along her hot wet slit with increasing pressure. She tried moving her hips to get me inside but I wouldn't allow it. I just kept sliding up and down watching her, watching the pressure of another climax building in her. At the top of that pressure, I reached between us and pinched her clit sending her over again. I held her, watching her beautiful face as she came back down, then I reached over to the night stand and grabbed a condom from the drawer. She didn't know it yet, but they were there for her and only for her and always had been.

Steph watched as I rose up to my knees opened the condom and dressed myself. Then I laid back down on her, pressing the tip of my cock against her opening. I looked at her and began to press forward. She closed her eyes. "No amante. Open your eyes and look at me. I want to see you as you feel me inside you." She opened her eyes and I watched as they widened and got the most incredible expression in them as I pressed forward into her. Dios, she was tight. I slid into her, rocked my hips slightly to get the most access. Steph pulled her knees up and rocked her hips until I was completely inside of her. She was making noises almost like sobs as I filled her. "Am I hurting you querida?"

"No, no, no, please stay. You feel so good. I love the way you feel." I began rocking my hips, slowly increasing the tempo and the amount I moved in and out of her until I was sliding almost all the way out before returning. I was trying desperately to keep a slow pace, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could. I kissed her, then kissed my way down her chin and back to her ear. I nipped her neck and then kissed and sucked on the spot marking her as I slid back and forth inside her.

"Oh Carlos please!" She rocked her hips and moaned.

"You want more querida? You want it harder?"

"Please Carlos!" I began moving faster and harder into her. I heard her crying out and knew she was close again. I increased the pace and tilted the angle of her hips so that I rubbed her just right as I moved in her and suddenly she was writhing under me in a hard climax. The feel of her walls squeezing and trembling on my cock as she came caused me to lose control and I simply pounded myself into her, desperate to come inside her. A few moments before my own climax, I heard her talking to me.

"Come inside me Carlos! I want to hear it. I want to feel it. Come for me Carlos!" Her calling my name ended in a yell as she felt me climax inside her. I was yelling her name. It was the hardest, most incredible climax I had ever had. I kept groaning and rocking. It seemed to go on forever. When it was over, I was laying limp on top of her, her legs were relaxed around my hips and her hands were sliding through my hair. She was kissing me on the side of my face. I turned my head so I could get a kiss on my lips. I think I was purring.

"I must be crushing you."

"No, not yet. You feel good. You feel right." She kissed me again. I just lay there enjoying feeling her under me.

**** Steph's POV ****

Oh my god! That was the most incredible love making I've ever had. Even the first time we were together was nothing like this. Of course the first time I was a bit hesitant and nervous, but not this time. Lord have mercy! And now he was just laying on me all relaxed and boneless like a big cat. A very big cat. It felt wonderful.

Carlos lay with me for a while, then moved, rolling off me to his side, then reaching past me to grab some Kleenex from the night stand. He took care of the spent condom, tossing it into a trash can on the other side of the room. 2 points! He smiled at me and began gently sliding his hand over my belly and breasts.

"You all right Babe?"

I smiled, raised my hand and ran my hand down his face. "I'm good, you?"

He smiled, a full on 200 watt smile. "I'm more than good. In a few minutes, I'm going to show you just how good you make me feel."

I stared at him. More? Could I handle more of that?

"Babe. That was just the appetizer."

**** Ellie's POV ****

I woke up in Lester's arms after making love all over the apartment, ending in Steph's bed. I was aching and sore in places I forgot I had. It hurt so good. Who knew there were that many uses for a coffee table?

I listened and realized that Lester was deeply asleep and snoring just slightly as he lay against me. I needed to pee, and was going to have to extract myself from his arms without waking him. At least I would try.

I started moving slowly and was almost loose from him when he mumbled at me. "Where going…"

"Shhh. Go back to sleep. I just need to go to the bathroom. Sleep. I'll be right back."

"Kay." And he settled back and let me go.

I went to the bathroom, then washed my hands and rinsed my face. I was still naked and noticed that Les had added to the marks on my skin. Possessive bastard. I smiled. I had left some marks of my own. He was going to catch hell at work Monday.

Turning off the light, I opened the door and went back to the bedroom. I looked at Les a moment and sure enough, he was sound asleep, snoring lightly.

Good. I have time.

Still naked, I padded back into the dark main room of the apartment and went to the dining table and my computer bag. My laptop was out on the table and I fired it up, checking my email accounts to see if there was any news.

Bingo. There was the message I was waiting for. I stopped a moment and listened. Les was still sound asleep. I reached into the computer bag to a hidden closure in the lining of the padded computer compartment. I removed a thin, silver high tech note book and opened it, turning it on. As it booted up, I fished out two more items from the hidden pouch. One was a heavy-ish looking piece of electronics with a USB connector. The other was a tiny piece of plastic with a digital read out on it.

The little notebook was up and ready, so I plugged in the electronics and opened the dashboard controlling it on the screen. I watched as it caught and opened a secure satellite connection. It demanded a code to allow access to the site. I looked at the little piece of plastic which contained the key code generator and waited for it to generate a new key. I entered the code and pressed enter. I was in.

I stopped and listened again. Still sleeping. I began to type looking for the report that should be there. Found it, and opened it and began to read. A few minutes of reading later, I leaned back. This was not good. Things were worse off than I thought. I built the response in my mind, building a picture of possible outcomes until I knew what I wanted to say.

I began typing, re-reading and re-wording until I had crafted a response that clearly outlined my thoughts. I read it through once more, then clicked send, waiting for the successful message. When it came, I closed the applications down, closed the connection, then closed the PC. I stowed everything back in the hidden pouch in my bag and headed back to bed.

I reached the bedroom and stopped, listened and made sure Lester was still asleep before I crawled back in with him. I didn't know how much more sleep I would get, but wanted to get as much as I could. Lester mumbled and gathered me in his arms, buried his face in my neck and went deeply asleep again. I smiled. The last thing I remember was looking at the clock before I went to sleep myself.

It was 4:30am Saturday morning.

****x

*****o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Madre de dios – mother of god.

OK. Ranger Romance and hot sex! Purrrrrrr! The electronics that Ellie was using are real life devices and are used to manage very secure connections. The antipasto appetizer Ranger and Steph shared is one of my personal favorites, being made of sliced ripe tomatoes, thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil with a little salt and pepper and drizzled with EVOO and 50 year old balsamic vinegar. YUM! It's also mostly healthy which is why Ranger chose it. Next chapter will be revelations.

Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: The story is written somewhat in the style of the books, with Stephanie in first person. I will try to keep everyone in character. Unlike the books, you will hear the inside thoughts of some of the other characters, and there will be smut. Definitions at the bottom as well.

****x

*****o

********Chapter 11**********

**** Steph's POV ****

The apartment was quiet and cool. I was standing at one of the windows in the living room looking out on Trenton before sunrise. It was actually kind of pretty. Course all I could see were silhouettes and lights. Still pretty. Ranger – no Carlos – was still asleep in the bedroom. We'd made love for hours until we both gave out. We'd only been asleep a short while when I woke up with my thoughts darting around in my head. I knew I wouldn't go back to sleep and didn't want to wake Carlos since I knew I would get restless. So I managed to slide out of his arms and head to the bathroom for a refresh and a conference with a warm washcloth. I splashed water in my face and quietly went back to the bedroom. He was still asleep, on his side hugging my pillow. He was kind of cute laying there and I almost wished I had a camera. But I didn't want to end up in some third world country with sand between my butt cheeks so I guess it's a good thing I didn't. I'd decided to come in here, so I grabbed one of his T shirts from the closet and here I am. Staring out the window. Thinking.

I think I heard a slight noise, or maybe just a change in air pressure, then the tingle I get when Carlos is nearby, so I knew he was awake and probably behind me somewhere. I just waited cause I knew he would find me soon enough.

Suddenly his hands were on my waist. "Babe? Are you…is everything ok?" How about that. Batman sounds unsure – of me? Himself? The situation? Hmmmm.

"I'm fine. Just thinking." I leaned back against him to gather some of his strength and warmth to me.

He was quiet for a bit, just holding me, then, "Anything I can help with?"

I swallowed. There was a lot I should tell him before anything else happened between us. I was scared that he was going to get really mad about part of it. _He has a right to know about most of it. He loves me and that won't change._ Right, more Adult Stephanie. Another part of me was jumping up and down and screaming deny, deny, run, run, run! _No more running. You lose when you run_. More Adult Stephanie. Ok. I can do this. I can do this. I inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly.

"Babe?"

Here goes. "I…that is…we, you…I've done some things…" I swallowed and tried to gather my thoughts into some semblance of order. Carlos slid his arms around me and hugged me. Oh god. _I was terrified he was gonna be really pissed at me_.

"I can't promise I won't get pissed," Oh no, I said that out loud! "But I can promise you I will listen. If I get too mad, I may have to step away from you for a few minutes, but I will come back and we will work everything out. I won't scream, or yell, or wave my arms at you. I promise." His voice was calm, soothing almost. I know he meant what he said. That's how he is. "But you have to promise not to run away so we can take care of whatever it is."

I gulped. That would be my personal struggle. I run when I don't want to confront something. "I may take a couple of running steps, but I won't run away, I promise."

"Fair enough. I'm here Babe. I'm not leaving. You can talk to me when you're ready."

I took a deep breath. "Ok. There are some things you need to know, things that happened and things I did. Please let me tell you the whole story before you decide what to do, please?"

His arms tightened around me. "I promise."

Another deep breath. "You remember, after the whole gig with Zook and all the mess around that? Right after that, you went in the wind for a long time and I broke up with Morelli? Well, I never told you what happened. We had a huge fight about, well that doesn't matter, and I started packing up to leave. I had already started moving stuff back to my apartment because we'd had a series of smaller fights and he was getting more and more demanding about what I did and who I was friends with. I was also having trouble believing anything Joe said to me for a bunch of reasons. So I decided we needed a break and some prespective." There, that sounded really adult when the reality was I just wanted Morelli to leave me alone and moving out was the easiest way to run away. I know everyone said I should want Morelli and should marry Morrelli and live happily ever after in a little cottage having babies. Unfortunately no one asked or cared if that was what I wanted. Including Ranger.

Another deep breath. "Well, I was moving my stuff and had already taken a load in my car back to my apartment, including Rex. I came back for the last of it and to leave a letter and my key behind. But Morelli had come home early and found the last few things I was leaving with. One of them was a basket full of laundry." So sue me. I used his washer and dryer to have all clean clothes to move back with. "Morelli had found the Rangeman panties and bra that Ella had embroidered with the Rangeman logo. He was really pissed about it and we got into a huge fight and…he slapped me. Really hard." Carlos went still behind me and I could feel anger pouring off him in waves.

"He hit you?"

"Yes, but please! You promised to listen to the whole thing before you decided anything!" I was terrified that he would go after Morelli and end up in jail and I was afraid he wouldn't let me finish and I would never get the nerve to tell him all of it again.

Carlos took a deep breath and exhaled very slowly. "All right Babe. I'm listening."

"Ok, so Morelli hit me and some of the training I'd had with Hector and Les kicked in and I reacted by using some of the self defense moves I'd learned. The problem was that Morelli was trained too and better at it than me and it ended up with him having a bruise on his jaw where I punched him and my face being slammed into the wall after he responded to my punch with another hard slap." Carlos shifted slightly behind me, but stayed with his hands on my waist and me leaning back against him. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it was pretty obvious he was really, really angry. I decided to continue and try to finish what I had to say.

"My nose was bleeding and Morelli seemed pretty horrified at what had happened. He left me there in the dining room and ran upstairs to get something I guess to help stop my nose bleed. As soon as he did, I grabbed my stuff and left. I managed to drive to my apartment and get my stuff up stairs, but by that time my head was really hurting and my nose was still bleeding some. So I called Lester and told him I'd had some trouble with a skip and probably needed Bobby's help. I'd gone after Henry Miller just before I went to Morelli's and Henry had caused me to fall before he got away, so Les and Bobby believed me when I told them I got hurt when I fell chasing Henry." I had chased Henry down the alley behind his street and had fallen over some trash he'd pulled over in front of me. I'd landed hard on my shoulder, skinned my knees and my hand but at least I hadn't rolled in the stuff. Needless to say, Henry got away. "Bobby said I wouldn't have to go to the ER if I let one of them stay with me to wake me every 2 hours to check that I didn't have a concussion. Lester stayed with me that night, and when I was fine the next morning, Les insisted on coming with me to help get Henry and the rest of my skips for the next couple of days, just until I was better."

I didn't want to go on, but I knew I needed to. Ra…Carlos was still standing behind me, his hands sliding up and down my sides soothing me. He was keeping his promise to stay until I was done. I took a deep breath.

"I officially put Morelli in the off category and didn't really want him back in the on category. Oh, he had apologized and said it was a onetime thing, and that if I would just change my behavior, or if I hadn't had that underwear, he wouldn't have lost his temper. I was in a lot of emotional pain because everyone kept saying Morelli is what I should want, is what I deserved. I wanted to make everyone happy because I wanted them to still want to be my friends and…" I choked a bit, trying not to cry. This was really hard because one of the people who had told me Morelli was what was best for me was Carlos.

Carlos slid his arms around me. "Babe…"

"No, let me finish. Everyone, except Ellie. I called her one night after another meet up with Morelli at Pino's and after an old school friend reminded me that Morelli was the 'perfect guy' and what was my problem? Ellie and I talked for hours about Morelli over the previous few weeks, but that night I called her and told her I was going to move back in with him. She didn't yell or say it was for the best. She just started asking a whole bunch of questions and wouldn't let me off the hook answering them. She made me realize that my behavior was that of an abuse victim and that I needed to break the pattern or I would end up just another battered Morelli wife with no hope. She convinced me I needed counseling." Carlos went still behind me. Oh god, I hoped he wasn't pissed at me.

"I didn't want to get any counseling because I thought it would involve laying on a couch with some guy taking notes like I was a biology experiment and that it would be embarrassing to go to because everyone would find out. Instead, Ellie hooked me up with her counselor. She told me she had started getting counseling after college during her marriage breakup and had never stopped. That it really helped her. She also told me that she did her counseling over the phone and that the counselor was a woman. So no one would know that I had a counselor or would ever see me going to a session." Carlos has slid his hands around me and pulled me tight against him and was rocking me slowly, not saying a word.

"I tried to get out of it by saying it was too expensive and I didn't have the money. So Ellie lent it to me." I chuckled remembering. "She even let me pay her back, except she gave me Visa gift cards for my birthday and Christmas that equaled the amount of money I had paid back!"

Carlos chuckled at this. "I'll have to remember that one." He kept rocking me slowly, soothingly.

"Anyway, Ellie also said that her counselor was reliable and very good. Ellie does some kind of work for the feds, and they had to do a check on her counselor that must have panned out. I ran one here at Rangeman when I got the chance that verified what Ellie had already told me. So I started working with the counselor. Her name is Naomi. Because of the work I did, that I am still doing with her, I've been able to get away from a lot of the reactions that kept me so off balance. I managed to break the cycle of feeling pressured to go back to Morelli a few months ago, and have had almost nothing to do with him for about 5 months now. I'm even getting better at dealing with my mother" I swallowed. Now was the hard part. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but fear of the unknown was getting to me.

"I uh…part of what we uh…I know that you're a really private person and I don't want you to be mad but, part of what we talk about is you." Carlos didn't say anything. He didn't stop rocking me either. "I don't tell her who you are or anything, just your name because…I mean…"

"Babe, are you afraid I'm going to be pissed at you because you're getting counseling, or because you have to talk about me and your feelings about me as part of the therapy? Because I am not pissed about that. Far from it."

I turned around so I could see his face. He looked calm and actually was smiling a little. "Really?"

"Really." He kissed me lightly on the lips. "I'm a soldier. You know I do contracts for the government I can't talk about. Part of the debriefing process is that we can speak to our counselors to help deal with what we may have seen or been subjected to as part of our jobs. It helps us heal. And Babe," He leaned down and kissed me lightly again. "There are times when I need to talk to my counselor, who is a woman by the way, about you. You have scared the living shit out of me a few times and I needed to deal with my fear and emotions. I did that with my counselor." Carlos brushed a curl behind my ear. "Are you angry with me for doing that?"

"Of course not!" I had always wondered how he coped with everything and stayed so centered. I guess that explains it.

"I noticed you were changing a while back. Just before I asked your help with the break ins on my accounts, something was changing with you. You were calmer, more centered, more sure of yourself. I was happy to see it, happy to see you finding yourself. I'm proud of you for taking control of your well being and doing what you needed to do. I'm very proud of you, Babe." He smiled at me then. I was so happy; I jumped up, wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and kissed the hell out of him, tongue and everything. He laughed, wrapped his arms around me and carried me back to bed. Needless to say it was a while before we went back to sleep. The last thing I saw before I drifted away was the alarm clock.

It was 5:30am Saturday morning.

**** Lester's POV ****

We slept in, really in for me. I'm not a 5am every morning no matter what kind of guy. I enjoy sleeping in occasionally, but that means I sleep until 9am or so. I looked over at the clock. It read 10:33am. I smiled. I thought back over the previous evening and smiled wider. I was going to have to buy Steph a new coffee table, fix one of the dining room chairs and buy her new sheets. I was going to keep these as a souvenir. Wow. Double wow. I looked at Ellie, still asleep next to me and just smiled. She was a little wildcat when you got her going. And cute as hell when she was pissed. Smacking her bare ass had been an inspired move on my part. What followed had been a pushing pulling, wrestling, tickling hard fought bout of love making where we had each fought for control through the entire thing. It was an incredible turn on. She went toe to toe with me and refused to give up or back down. Don't get me wrong, there was no violence and it was all totally consensual. I got concerned at one point and backed way off only to find myself being tackled with her sitting on me before I could get oriented. Her warm mouth and soft hands had me helpless for a little while, then I got her back. Whoa. Just thinking about it was getting me all worked up again.

"Don't even think about it, buster. I'm sore and sticky and want a shower and coffee before anything, and I mean anything else happens." I looked down into her snapping golden eyes and smiled.

"Good morning to you too, querida. Sleep well?" She punched me in the chest. "Now, now. I thought you wanted a shower? If you do, don't start with any foreplay!" I grabbed her hand before she could hit me again.

"You are obnoxious!" She was frowning at me, but I could see the hint of a smile she had.

I kissed her. "And you are amazing. Tell you what, amante. I will go make coffee while you shower, then you can have your wake up cup while I shower. That way we both get clean without running out of hot water." I was looking down at her, smiling.

Ellie smiled back at me, then ran her hand down my face, her fingertips across my lips. She leaned up and kissed me gently, tenderly. I was blown away by that kiss. Suddenly she was moving, up out of bed and across the room.

"Hey!"

"Coffee, darlin', coffee!" She sang back at me as she headed for the shower.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Ellie was wearing one of my t-shirts and drinking another cup of coffee when I joined her in the living room. Her hair was damp and she looked really cute. My shirt was WAY too big for her, fitting her more like a Mumu than a shirt. But it was my shirt and she was sexy as hell in my shirt. Grrrrrr. I sat next to her on the couch and looked at the lop sided coffee table.

"We need to replace that you know." She was gazing at it, a bit bemused.

"Already planned it. I gotta fix one of the dining room chairs too."

"Actually, 2 of them are not really working anymore." Ellie cut her eyes at me. "I guess we were a little carried away last night."

I snorted. "Rex stuck he nose out of his soup can this morning and I swear he looked at me like 'Dude, really?'. I guess he didn't appreciate our use of the counter last night."

Ellie burst out laughing. "Poor little guy. He's probably traumatized. Maybe we should get him a Regina all his own?"

I was laughing now. "Can you see Steph fretting about hamster babies?" Now we were hysterical. I love laughing with this woman.

"I'm just glad Steph and Ranger didn't come back last night." Ellie was still snickering

"Oh god, no. I would have had to shoot him for seeing you naked, then Steph would have shot me for shooting Ranger. It wouldn't have been pretty." I opened my mouth to continue and my cell phone went off. It was Ranger's ring tone.

"Speak of the devil…Yo." I listened, then agreed we'd be at the office in 30 minutes.

"Trouble?"

"They got the video of your assault and want us to take a look." Actually, Range said they wanted her to take a look and see what she could make of it. I didn't like the sound of that, so I was going with her, whether Ranger wanted me to or not.

oOoOoOoOoOo

**** Ranger's POV ****

Hector, Hal, Myself, Steph, Lester and Ellie were in the smaller conference room on 5. I noticed that Lester was sporting love bites everywhere his shirt didn't cover on his chest and neck, and what looked like a bruise on his left wrist. He was also walking a bit stiff. Ellie, on the other hand, had only a couple of love bites, no visible bruises and was walking just fine. She did wince a bit when she sat, but didn't seem to be in much discomfort. I was trying very hard to hold my smile in, but I was really enjoying my cousin's predicament. Ellie was definitely not going to let Lester rule that relationship. I never thought Lester would meet his match, and never in such a small package, but my coz was whipped, totally whipped. Welcome to my world, coz.

I nodded to Hector to queue up the videos, and turned to watch Ellie's reaction. The first video played, showing a man in a dark business suit, come up from the side, grab Ellie and literally throw her at a concrete column. She didn't quite make the column, landing instead just short of it on her arm. I watched Ellie's face as she saw what had happened for the first time.

She blinked, then looked at Hector. "Can you replay that, from say about 30 seconds earlier and slow it down?" Hector nodded, tapped a bit and restarted the video. She watched, coming to her feet and moving closer to the screen.

"What do you see Querida?" Lester was frowning, Hecter was grinning. She had seen what we saw, what Hector found on the video.

"He recognized me. He recognized me, started to move on, then actually turned around to follow me and assault me. See, look…run it again." Her finger pointed at the guy as he was walking along, passing Ellie on the sidewalk as she was talking on the phone. He continued a couple of steps, turned and looked at her, then turned and followed her for a few moments, looking left and right before speeding up to her side, grabbing her and literally throwing her at the pillar. He stood around with the crowd that formed, tried to get closer once or twice, then melted back into the crowd and disappeared off the feed when the police arrived.

"It wasn't planned." Steph was frowning, thinking. "He saw you, and had to decide to go after you. It was a spur of the moment attack."

"But why?" Ellie seemed genuinely perplexed and upset. "I don't remember seeing him before so he's not someone I know. Why would he do that?"

I gestured at Hector to queue up the other video from inside the building next to where she fell. It ran, showing her flying through the air to the ground. It also showed the attackers face very clearly.

"Who the fuck is that guy?" Lester was very agitated, his hands fisted on the table.

"I have no clue." Ellie was pale, staring at the frozen image of the man's face. He was about mid-30s, average looks, about 6 foot, medium build, wearing what appeared to be a moderately expensive blue suit, dark blue tie and white shirt. He looked like every other office drone on the street. Except he had just thrown a woman down in what appeared to be an attempt to seriously injure if not outright kill her.

I had a strong idea that this had something to do with Ellie's job. I also had a feeling that whatever it was that was going on was potentially big…and dangerous. She was Steph's friend and I knew that Steph would never back away from her friend especially since it seemed there was trouble. That meant I needed to get a handle on this to keep Steph safe. Quickly.

"Ellie, I need to know what your job is. I know it's probably classified but I need to know what's going on in order to keep you and Steph safe." Ellie was looking at me with a professional grade blank face on. Great. That meant she had some training and was not going to give away anything without a great deal of persuasion. "I…we have clearance to level 3 if that helps any. Is there anything you can tell us that will help us deal with this?"

Ellie just sat looking at me for a long moment, no emotion on her face. She turned and looked at Steph for a moment, and I thought that maybe Steph was why she wouldn't tell us anything. Steph had basically no clearance. Whether she wanted to or not, Steph would need to leave. "Steph could you step out…"

Ellie raised her hand to stop me. "Level 3 isn't high enough. I can't really tell you anymore than I could say with Steph in the room. I'm just trying to sort through and decide what I can tell you." She was worrying her lower lip with her teeth.

Level 3 wasn't high enough. Fuck. God damn. That meant she was involved in either eyes only operations or…I didn't want to think about what else. Madre de dios. And my Babe was involved with her. And Lester. I looked at him to see him looking at Ellie, pale faced and fierce as he watched her wrestle with what she could say. I thought a bit and decided that I needed the rest of the core team in the room. I texted Tank and had him and Bobby report ASAP. A moment later the conference room door opened and the 2 of them walked in, looked at the group, then sat. And we waited.

A few minutes passed and I was wondering if Ellie was going to speak again or not. Steph was fidgeting and I knew she would wait much longer. "Ellie?" I was right. Leave it to my Babe to move things along.

Ellie took a deep breath and looked at Hector. Then she surprised everyone by speaking to him in Spanish. "_When was the last time you swept this room?_"

Hector's eyebrows rose, "_Just before this meeting_."

"_Check again_." Ellie wrote something on the pad in front of her and handed it to Hector. Hal leaned over, read what was there and his eyes widened. Both men looked at me with wide eyes. I nodded. Whatever she needed them to do, I had a feeling we better do it.

Hector left the room and returned with some equipment. He and Hal made adjustments and swept the room. They found something at one end of the room under the white board, and at the other end of the room on the clock. They both returned to the table and Hector removed a jar from the carry case, opened it and they dropped some tiny items into the liquid. A few moments later, Hector fished them out and placed them on a paper towel on the table and rechecked them with the equipment. Hal looked at me. "All clear now Boss."

I looked at them, at Ellie and back at Hal. "Explain."

"They are super small, high frequency listening devices. They operate at a frequency I haven't seen used before. That's why we missed them. We'll need to adjust all our equipment to make sure we get them all." They passed me the paper towel and I looked at what appeared to me two black, penny sized pieces of what looked like plastic.

Tank began issuing orders. "Get the rest of the equipment adjusted and sweep the whole building. Find these things, then start looking at who had access to all the places they showed up and let's figure out who placed them." Hector and Hal were both nodding.

"Be sure to sweep the vehicles, bathrooms, and areas near outside entrances. I can tell you these things haven't been here long." Ellie looked at Tank and me. "The black gets lighter as time passes. Once it turns white, the battery is dead and the device is replaced. It's how an operative can tell if a device needs replacing."

"How do they transmit? We need to find out who's listening." Tank was not a happy camper.

"Look for a small device of some kind that is out of place. These things can't send signals far so there is always a device that records the signals then rebroadcasts at set times. We probably have a few hours before anyone figures out that they've been made." She shrugged and looked at Lester. She gave him a sad look. "Check outside for any box that shouldn't be there."

Hector and Hal left to start the sweeps. It got quiet in the conference room again. We all waited on Ellie…again.

"Look, those things may not have anything to do with me being here. They'd been in place for at least 3 weeks already."

"How do you get that?" I was beyond pissed.

"They've started to grey on the edges. Pick them up and look at the edges. That means they've been in place for 3 to 4 weeks. I've only been here a week. I didn't even decide to come here until last Friday. And I told NO ONE where I was going. NO ONE until I called Steph last Saturday!"

"Yet you know enough to look for them!"

"Because there has been a problem in certain circles for months. We sweep every freakin' day at work because we got a problem. Now you have it too. You might want to think about why." She was calm despite my being pissed and giving her my best glares.

I took a deep breath. We needed to get on track here. "Who are you and who do you work for?"

"The…organization I work for helps provide certain…support for…certain types of military based…operations." Ellie looked at me, waiting for me to connect the dots.

Holy fucking crap. She was black ops support. I looked at Tank and Bobby. They also had made the connections. We did 'certain types of military based operations', black operations. This woman was one of the people who had provided us with communications, intelligence, secure connections, you name it technology wise. From the sound of things, she did something related to computer support. Shit. I looked at Steph and sure enough. She was looking at us with her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide. She'd made the connection too.

Ellie was simply sitting quietly, watching us all. I decided to go on offense. "Are you telling me that it is simply coincidence that you show up here trying to get away from a threat? Because that is somewhat far fetched." I was doing my best to intimidate her. Lester was glaring at me. I needed to know what was really happening so I had to ignore his feelings for now.

"Steph never told me that y'all did classified contracts. Lester told me that AFTER I told him I worked on classified computer stuff. She told me you were ex-military, and the name of your company. I googled you, and I read about you on the web. I admit part of the reason I came here is because Steph told me how you try to keep her safe, and your website said you specialize in personal safety, among other things. I was hoping to ask for your help if I needed it. Was I wrong?"

I thought a bit. "No, you weren't wrong. But I wish you had come straight to me instead of waiting. Your injuries then you showing up here, those bugs and some things that happened in our last debrief," a frown flickered across Ellie's face then disappeared, "are too much of a coincidence to be ignored."

I looked at Steph to see how she was reacting. "Ranger, my spidey sense is still jangling here. Something is off. Bad off." I nodded. I felt it too. I took a deep breath. Time to plan. I glanced at the clock.

It was 1:54pm, Saturday afternoon.

**** Unknown POV ****

The navy lieutenant sat in the coffee shop, finishing his cappuchino. It had been a good few weeks. His bank account was flush, he'd been able to pay off certain loans and begin building a small nest egg. And he hadn't really done anything all that wrong to manage it. And now he had friends in high places that owed him a favor. Good for the career that. Yes indeed a good day. He wiped his mouth, got rid of his trash, gathered up his paper and brief case and headed out the door and down the street to his office.

Suddenly a man stepped in front of him and flashed a badge. "Lieutenant Adam Brandis? Agent Harold Miller, NCIS. You are under arrest." Someone came up behind him, took his brief case and handcuffed him.

"You have no authority to do this." Lt Brandis felt the first touch of fear.

"Oh but I do." Agent Harold snarled at him. "Let's go Butler. This scum has some explaining to do." They propelled him towards a dark blue SUV where another man with NCIS on his jacket was standing with a gun out and the door open. They tossed the Lt, still protesting into the back of the vehicle, climbed in and sped away.

The bystanders stared a few minutes, milled a bit, then went on, the excitement over for the day.

It was 4:41pm,Saturday afternoon.

**** Unknown POV ****

The man stood by the window in the hotel room. He had a really nice room on the 10th floor of the Willard House, Intercontinental Hotel in downtown DC, just a couple of blocks from the White House. He'd had an excellent meal via room service and now just awaited his supervisor's visit to receive his next assignment. He should get a bonus given that he had performed his task AND taken the woman out of the picture. Too bad he didn't kill her at the same time, but she was at least out of the way. Limited in her movements. That gave a definitive advantage to the overall operation.

The man smiled slightly, remembering his surprise at seeing her alone on a downtown street. He'd had to look carefully to make sure it was really the right woman. It should have been much harder to get to her, but someone had gotten sloppy. Allowed her to move about without a shadow. He'd only had a few moments to decide, plan and act. He hadn't thrown her hard enough because she'd managed a little resistance at the last moment. Just enough to save her life, but not enough to keep her from a serious injury. She was so foolish. Women always thought they could take care of themselves, protect themselves. He just couldn't believe that no one had been watching.

A knock sounded on his room door. The man walked across the room and opened it to reveal his supervisor. "Good evening sir."

His supervisor stepped into the room and allowed the door to close behind him with a snap that only high quality soundproof hotel doors provide. He was carrying a briefcase.

"Good evening. You have the deliverable?"

"I do." The man handed his supervisor 2 flash drives. "I got all of the files you asked for as well as a dump of the database."

"Very good." His supervisor stepped past him to lay the briefcase on the credenza and open it. He stowed the flash drives in a small case inside then picked something up from inside the briefcase. He turned and faced the man.

He was pointing a 9mm gun with a silencer at the man who had worked for him.

"Shit! What the hell is this? I've completed my assignment and then some. You should be giving me a bonus!" The man was staring, frozen, at the gun.

"You performed admirably and completed your task. I would have rewarded you for that. But you fucked up royally when you attacked the woman in broad daylight on a DC street. You were a fucking idiot! You didn't even manage to kill her; just alert everyone in that organization that we were moving against them. You were stupid and have become a liability; especially after we found out they had your picture on video!"

"But with the woman off line…"

"You only succeeded in smacking the hornet's nest. Now they know they are being moved against. You are done." The supervisor pulled the trigger 3 times, 2 taps to the chest, one between the eyes. The man was dead. The supervisor calmly put the gun back in the briefcase, then glanced in the mirror.

"Crap." There were blood drops from the blow back of the shots on his shirt, face and arms. Nothing showed on his dark pants. Oh, well. He came prepared. He unbuttoned and stripped off his shirt, folding it with the blood inside, then went to the bathroom and rinsed the blood off his skin. He wiped down the sink and faucets and left the bathroom carrying the washcloth he used with him. He pulled a blue polo shirt from the briefcase and pulled it over his head, closed the brief case and locked it. He then left the room, stepping over the body and closing the door behind him, making sure to wipe the handle using the washcloth. Standing in the hall, he pocketed the washcloth and headed for the elevator, looking at his watch.

It was 8:30pm Saturday evening.

****x

*****o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Diosa - goddess

Steph begins to really show that she is growing up, but not losing the attitude and spark that makes her so endearing. Ellie and Lester are getting interesting. And things start to heat up as far the intrigue that started the whole thing is concerned. What will happen next? Who are the players in this story? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes! SMUT warning for this chapter.

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: There are references in this chapter to events that happened in "One for the Money" and "Hard Eight" and "Eleven on Top" and "Twelve on Top" but even if you haven't read them this chapter will still make sense. Definitions at the bottom as well.

REVIEWS PLEASE? Pretty please? With pineapple upside down cake on it? Pleeeassse? There are a lot of people reading (YAY!) but not many posting a word or 2. Please?

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********Chapter 12**********

**** Steph's POV ****

God, It had been a long day, and it wasn't supposed to be a work day. But work we had until just about half an hour ago. It was already 8:05pm. I'm sitting on Carlos' couch (I have to keep reminding myself to call him Carlos. He's been Ranger to me for so long) on the seventh floor of his building and he's puttering in the kitchen opening a bottle of wine, waiting for Ella to bring up some dinner for us. We'd spent the entire day going over what Ellie told us, reviewing where bugs had been found, and talking about possible reasons why they were there, talking about what the guys heard in the debrief, what we could do to protect ourselves and Rangeman.

A sweeps schedule had been put together that basically had Hal or Hector sweeping the entire building every 4 hours. Probably overkill, but it would provide one of 2 benefits, maybe both. It might prevent whoever it was from placing more which would make us relatively safe from eavesdroppers, or it would give a pattern of where and when they're being installed which would give us more information on who might be doing it. We'd tried looking at who would have access to all the places that bugs had been found, but there were too many possibilities and not enough people were eliminated to make that worthwhile. So we're also going to run background checks and searches on all Rangeman employees and contractors for the last 4 weeks to see if anything out of the ordinary shows up. That will be my job, with Les and Bobby helping run them. We decided to keep this in the core team. I guess that meant I was considered core team now. That was cool, but I wish things were different.

There was a knock on the apartment door. And I heard Carlos answer. Must be Ella bringing dinner. I smelled pure deliciousness and looked over at the dining table. Sure enough, there was Ella unloading her cart. Yum! I went over and sat down to the most luscious Mac'n'cheese with little bits of sausage and various other goodies mixed in. "Oh Ella, I love you!" I grinned at her and dug in, putting a generous portion on my plate.

Ella was smiling at me and laying out another casserole dish for Carlos. I watched as she lifted the top and there lay something other than the usual roast chicken and vegetables inside. It actually looked almost like real food. "What is that?"

"I decided to vary the menu a bit and make Pollo con Mojo cubano-Mango Salsa de Aguacate. There is also black beans and rice."

"Uh hunh." Oh very articulate Stephanie. Sheesh.

Ella just laughed. "It's really just a spicy chicken mojo dish with a salsa made from mangos and avocados. It's roasted and pretty 'healthy', even for Carlos." I reached over and took a little with my fork. Carlos growled at me and pretended to try to stab me with his fork.

"Oooooh, yum! That actually tastes good! What is mojo?" I pronounced it the way Ella did , or I tried as mo-ho.

"It is a marinade made with oranges that we use in Cuban food that makes everything taste good."

"Wow. I really like that." I did. If this was 'healthy' I was all for it. It was real food. I tried for another bite and Carlos wrapped an arm around the dish, raised his fork like a weapon and growled at me. Ella was laughing at him.

"I'm glad you like it. I'll make it and others like it for you more often. Enjoy your dinner!" She smiled and rolled the cart out of the apartment.

Carlos and I ate our dinner in relative quiet, except for my moans as I ate mine. Carlos shifted around and looked pained a few times. Hehehe! I wasn't doing it deliberately, but I really loved the way everything tasted with the textures in my mouth. Heaven! I really love Ella.

I watched Carlos eating that chicken stuff. I mean really enjoying his food. That didn't happen too often. He finished, wiped his mouth then looked at me. "Babe?"

"You're cute when you let yourself just enjoy yourself."

He looked pained. "I am not 'cute'." He said the word cute like it was shit or something.

I stood up, walked around the table and sat down in his lap, straddling him. "That's too bad since I like cute guys." I was grinning in his face.

"Cute guys." Carlos began nibbling and kissed my neck and shoulders. "How about just one big tough scary guy?"

I was giggling. Then my big mouth kicked in. "Big tough scary guy? Know one that'll come over?" Ooops! Carlos reared back and stared at me. "I just need one?" I was squeaking. Carlos was glaring at me, eyes narrowed. I knew he was playing, but I also knew he would get even, it would be good, but he would get even.

Carlos growled at me. "You have someone in mind?"

"Umm, this guy named Ranger comes to mind. He's kind a big and scary."

Carlos pulled my shirt over my head and undid my bra, tossing it after my shirt. "Ranger huh? I don't think so. I'm here and I'm thinking I want plum for dessert!" He began kissing and fondling my breasts. He took my right nipple into his mouth and began sucking and nibbling. I thought I was going to pass out it felt so good.

I moaned and clutched at his shoulders. "Carlos!" He stood up with me, just stood straight up as though I weighed nothing and carried me to his bed, where he tossed me into the middle of it. He reached over, grabbed my yoga pants and pulled them off, eyes going black as it was revealed I was commando under them. Then he straightened up and began ripping his own clothes off, throwing them across the room.

"Yes, Babe. Mi preciosa. And I intend to eat ALL of my dessert!"

The clock next to the bed read 9:09 pm, Saturday night.

**** Lester's POV ****

We made it back to Steph's apartment around 8:30pm. The ride back had been quiet, mostly because I couldn't seem to find any words. Ellie's revelations, and then finding Rangeman bugged to high heaven, madre de dios. Then all the planning, trying to find out who, trying to figure out what it all meant. I was numb. Ellie had darted little looks at me all the way to the apartment, but never said anything. Now we were entering Steph's place, still not talking. I made a quick tour to make sure there were no surprises in the place and came back to where Ellie was still standing just inside the door. She looked like she was thinking pretty hard. "What's the matter?"

She looked up at me, put her fingers on my lips in the "shh" sign, pointed at her ears, then around the apartment. Holy crap. She thinks it's bugged. I'll have to call Hal and get him out here. I grabbed my cell to call. Ellie put her hand on it, stopping me. "What…?" She looked at me a moment, then signaled one minute with her finger, turned into the kitchen and pulled her briefcase out from under the cabinets. Hunh.

She carried it into the dining room, opened it and pulled out her laptop. Then reached back into the case and from somewhere, pulled out a thin, silver, really expensive looking notebook computer and opened it. She reached back in and pulled some sort of antenna looking thing out and hooked it into the little notebook. I went and looked over her shoulder at the screen and saw she had started some application. I suddenly realized she was getting ready to sweep the apartment! Ellie picked up the notebook and antenna thing and walked around the apartment. She stopped front of the TV and pointed. I looked where she pointed and there was one of those damn bugs. I collected them as she pointed at them, then we went to the kitchen and she filled a bowl with soapy water and we threw them in the bowl.

We stood there looking at them for a long moment. Ellie looked up at me. "Well, they are all dead now. We can talk without being heard."

I looked at this little woman. I was having a hard time with my emotions right now. I needed some answers from her and I wasn't sure she would give me any. "Ellie, I need some answers from you or I'm going to go crazy. Please querida, would you please talk to me and help me understand all this?"

She looked up at me, solemn and beautiful. "I will try Les. I may not be able to answer all your questions, but I will if I can."

I took her hand and led her into the living room, sat on the couch and pulled her onto my lap and held her. "Querida, please tell me your name really is Ellie."

She sighed and relaxed a little against me. "Yes, it's really Ellie."

Good. That was good. "You speak Spanish. What other languages do you speak?" I was dying of curiosity here. Her Spanish was good, but she had a sort of tex-mex accent instead of Cuban when she spoke it.

"Let's see, English, Spanish, French, a few words of Farsi, a few words of Arabic. Oh, and Cherokee." Interesting combination. The Spanish and French were kind of standard learn them in high school languages, although she seemed to know Spanish way better than that.

"Where did you learn Spanish?"

"I spent a number of years living in south Texas and southern California. You gotta at least speak street spanglish to survive. I studied it in school of course. I also have spent a couple of years in south Florida where I was exposed to Caribbean style Spanish."

"French?"

"School mostly, although I spent some time in Quebec and a little time in Switzerland."

"I'm guessing you can't tell me what you were doing in all those places?"

"Oh, for the most part I can. I was working contracts like you do for Rangemen only mine were computer related. No biggie."

"Uh, Farsi and Arabic?" She had said she only knew a few words.

"I have a close friend who is Iranian – he would say Persian. We went a lot of places working contracts together. I guess you could say he was my partner for a while. I have another good friend who is Egyptian. He introduced me to Hookah bars and belly dancing." Ok. Now I was getting irritated. Male friends. Partners. How 'close' are these friends? And they were middle eastern. Middle eastern men don't traditionally have female friends, let alone 'partners'. I opened my mouth to try to find out how 'friendly' they were.

"Before you ask, they are my friends. Nothing more. The Iranian guy is married, but was a bit of a player for a while. Our relationship is a lot like yours and Steph's, we're good friends and partners. The Egyptian guy is almost as good a friend and recently divorced and pretty unhappy about it. We're just friends." She was rubbing my chest with her hand. I still didn't like it, but being jealous and acting all macho with her would not cut it with her. Especially given my friendship with Steph. Getting all jealous would be hypocritical. I still didn't like it but I would have to get over it I guess.

Now for the tough question. I didn't know how I wanted her to answer this one. I braced myself. "Are you an operative?"

"Operative?"

"Yeah, y'know, CIA, NSA, under cover, a spy, a spook, a…"

She burst out laughing, turned in my lap and ended up straddling me on the couch. She cupped my face in her hands. "No, I am not an operative or a spy of any kind. I DON"T work for the government. I work for a company that has a contract to provide services to the government, like Rangeman. I get paid very well by my company to provide those contract services just like you or Ranger and Rangeman. That's all. I have never worked for the directly for the government, and I've not served in the military either."

I relaxed a little. "I knew you'd never been in the military. That's obvious." She puffed up a little and started to look insulted. "You're too short."

She looked a little startled, then pretended outrage. "I am not short. I am height challenged." She stuck her nose in the air, overbalanced and grabbed my shoulders for support. I caught hold of her.

Our eyes caught. Time stopped, the earth went still. "Amante, I'm having very strong feelings for you. I think I may be falling a little in love with you and I'm scared you're involved with something that 's going to end badly for you." I pulled her in close to me. "I don't know what to do to keep you safe and it scares me."

She was quiet for a bit. "Les, I'm having strong feelings for you, too. And I know I'm falling for you." She was quiet. Still. "Les, I want you…I need you to trust me, believe in me." She pulled back and looked at me with an intensity I'd never seen before in her eyes. "Trust me Les. I promise everything is going to be fine. Trust me."

I stopped breathing. She was asking for something major here, I just didn't know what. She was scaring me. I just knew she was asking for the moon. And I knew I was going to give it to her.

"I trust you." She searched my eyes for a moment and seemed to see what she was looking for. She closed her eyes, slid forward in my lap, legs still straddling me, her arms around my neck , and leaned into me. "Thank you." My arms closed around her and we sat like that, together, breathing together, being together for a long time. I finally moved and stood up with her still in my arms and headed for the bedroom carrying her like a child.

It was 11:41pm Saturday night. The day was finally nearly done.

**** Another POV ****

John Nelson Bell was content. He had his next target in sight and things were going to be moving quickly to acquire the company and place its assets, and all its employees, in his control. Particularly its master and CEO, Colonel Manoso, assassin extraordinaire. This would bring Bell the ability to simply remove targets that were too stubborn to admit defeat quickly and easily with no muss, no fuss. That in turn, would allow him to bring to heal a number of others and bring the power he needed to place a large chunk of the industrial complex in the country under his hidden control. Which would put him and some of his allies in a very good place to control even larger targets.

Bell laid the iPad next to his plate and leaned back enjoying the view from where he sat at the end of his dining room table. The unobstructed floor to ceiling view from this 10th floor apartment was across Central Park in New York City and was very impressive and very expensive. He gestured to the servant standing near the sideboard to refill his coffee cup. There was a chime, which Bell frowned slightly at.

"Would you prefer not to see anyone at this time, sir?" The servant was trained that no one saw Mr. Bell on Sunday morning unless specifically invited.

"That's all right, William. I was expecting Daniel to arrive later today, but if that's him, I will see him now." Bell flicked his hand at the man. The server went to the door at the other end of the dining space to check on the identity of the visitor. A few moments later a tallish, handsome man entered the dining area. He was about 5'10" tall and relatively young, dark haired, with brown eyes and a calm demeanor. He was not muscular per se, but he was fit and was wearing an expensive blue Armani suit, no tie. It was Sunday after all.

"Good morning John. There is news you should hear." He sat on the right side of the table next to Bell, so that he could also enjoy the view with his breakfast.

Bell studied him for a moment, watching as the server placed a plate of eggs and ham in front of the younger man. Bell then told the server his presence was no longer required. "I'll call when we need something William."

"Very good sir." The server placed the coffee pot on the table in reach of both gentlemen, and left the room. As soon as the door clicked shit, Bell was moving impatiently in his chair.

"What's the news, Daniel? What's happened that you need to come here this early?"

The man named Daniel poured himself a cup of the very expensive coffee, added a liberal amount of cream, sipped, then addressed his boss's questions. "We were successful in retrieving the flash drives with the reports and even a copy of one part of the database. Our asset was then terminated because of his mishandling of the woman."

Bell looked excited. "Where did this take place and are the authorities aware?"

"The asset was terminated at the Willard in DC and was found 2 hours ago by room service when they delivered a standing breakfast order for the room."

"2 blocks from the fucking White House and they couldn't find him or stop us. Perfect." He noticed that Daniel still seemed solemn. "What else?"

"Our man inside the special ops office was picked up by NCIS last night on a Virginia street." Daniel watched as Mr. Bell processed this information.

"Not that important. He was low level and was just good for distractions. He actually had no information about us and provided little information in return. We have a better asset in place for that." He waved his hand in dismissal. "The good news is that we got the information we needed and have sent a message to everyone in the field that they only act on orders and don't free lance. We also sent a message to the agency that we are serious and there will be consequences to opposing us."

Daniel smirked to himself, his face remaining passive with just a hint of concern. "Yes sir. Unfortunately another body was found this morning about…" Daniel looked at his watch. "About an hour and a half ago. It was our asset inside the special ops group itself."

Bell stared at him, pale, his respirations increasing. "What? Where?"

"In the room across the hall from our terminated asset." Daniel watched as Bell swallowed hard. "2 taps to the chest, one between the eyes. He was found because of a standing room service breakfast order from the evening before. It was placed 10 minutes after our first asset was terminated."

Bell stared at him. Daniel allowed a bit more concern to register on his face before continuing. "Then about an hour ago at the Watergate offices of our lobbyists, the body of our asset inside the pentagon's Office of Strategic Operations was found by security propped up against their front door, tapped twice in the chest and once in the head. There was a note pinned to his chest." Bell was staring, in shock at Daniel as Daniel calmly ate some of his eggs. "It said 'Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!' That's a quote from the first Die Hard movie where…"

"I know what they were quoting god dammit! What the hell are they trying to do?"

"I wasn't aware you were familiar with the Die Hard movies sir. Pardon me." Daniel watched his boss trying to come to grips with someone actually upping the ante on him. "There is something else. About 20 minutes ago, another body was found, this time propped up against the front door of our Dynarcorp offices in Alexandria. It also had a note pinned on it that said 'Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!' This one was our handler for the assets inside the NSA and Section 31." On the inside, Daniel was laughing his ass off at his egotistical boss. _Message that mother fucker. Someone has a sick sense of humor._ On the outside he calmly continued. "I'm afraid that the FBI and local police are going to be asking a lot of questions, especially about the Dynarcorp body. We're also trying to ascertain if there was a note attached to the second body at the Willard. It would be…problematic…if the authorities made a connection between all 4 bodies and us."

Bell was horrified. How could this have happened? No one could have known that their assets were in place and that the operations they were involved with were compromised. "What about the rest of our assets? Are they accounted for?"

"As far as we can tell, they are all fine at this time. We haven't actually attempted contact with the assets being handled in the NSA and Section 31 yet. Given that it was their handler that was tapped and we are not entirely certain exactly who the assets are, they appear to be laying low and trying not to get noticed. We were concerned that any…unusual…communications would be noticed and cause us to lose those assets as well. We're watching and waiting for an…appropriate…time and place to contact them." Daniel was calmly eating his breakfast. Really the quality of the food was excellent.

Bell was thinking hard, tapping his fingers on the iPad he had picked up off the table. "We can't allow this to alter our ultimate acquisition of Rangeman. They are critical to the go forward plans we have and can't be allowed to escape." Bell completed a complex series of taps. "I've accelerated our planned pressure moves so that we close on them as soon as possible. Also, we need to find a way to contact our assets to ensure we have the necessary information to complete our acquisition. Please over see the process and make sure no more mistakes are made, Daniel."

Daniel wiped his mouth, sipped his coffee one more time and nodded. "Of course, sir. I will follow up on your orders immediately." He stood to leave. "Thank you for breakfast."

Bell flicked a hand in dismissal. "Send William back in on your way out."

Daniel inclined his head, stood and moved towards the door. _God, what an idiot. He's going to get a lot of people killed_. He slid through the door, indicated that Bell wanted the man William back in the dining room, and left.

**** Steph's POV ****

I woke up and it was light in the apartment. I felt Carlos leave the bed for the bathroom, but didn't have the strength to move. I was still half asleep and boneless from being dessert last night. Zowie Batman! That was fine! I was still laying on my side, well mostly on my belly, my left leg drawn up and my left arm being bent were the only things keeping me from being flat on my face on Carlos' fabulous sheets. I pried my eyes open far enough to see the alarm clock on my side of the bed. It said 9:43am. Wow. We slept in today. Guess we were tired. Batman worked hard last night.

I listened to him moving about a little, then I felt the sheets start to slide down off my body. I raised my head a little and there was Carlos standing naked at the foot of the bed, pulling the sheet off me. "Stop that!"

"Don't think so, Babe." He was looking at me with eyes dark with intent. "I have had all these fantasies about finding you in my bed." The sheet was now all the way off. "And here you are in exactly the position where one of my fantasies starts." He slid onto the bed, his knees on either side of my legs. "I think I'm going to have to make that fantasy come true."

A rush of pure lust shot through me. It was almost painful. A Batman fantasy. Yum! I started to turn over and Carlos stopped me. "No, just lay on your stomach, Babe." He started sliding and kneading his hands up the back of my legs. I turned all the way over and tossed the pillows aside so I wouldn't smother and folded my arms under my head. I wondered what he had in mind. I mean, he knows I don't do butt stuff. His hands slid over my bottom then squeezed and kneaded my butt. He was half laying on my legs and I felt his mouth laying kisses and nips up the backs of my legs where his hands had been. His hands slid around my hips, then his mouth was kissing and nipping my bottom. I was moaning. It was such an erotic feeling because it was not an area that I usually had any attention paid to. Wow.

Carlos slid further up the back of my legs and body, his hands then his mouth kneading, nipping and kissing. He reached my shoulders and was kissing the nape of my neck, then I felt his cock rubbing up and down the crack of my ass. I tensed up and got a little scared. "Relax, querida. I know your preferences. I am not going to go there, but I do want to broaden your horizons just a little bit." I thought about it then moaned as he slid his hands under my belly, one hand raising my hips a little and the other going for my clit. "Trust me, babe? Please?"

I moaned. "Mkay." Anything, almost anything. I just didn't want him to stop. He continued the movements of his fingers on my clit, still sensitive from last night. It didn't take long before I was starting to come, calling his name as I did.

"That's it. Come for me Babe." Carlos was speaking quietly in my ear then he did something with his hand and I lost it. As I was coming down, I heard felt him raise up and move a bit, then he was sitting on my upper thighs, with me still face down. I heard a rustle that meant he was getting out condom. Then I felt him reach back towards his nightstand. I looked over and saw him pick up the bottle of warming oil we were playing with last night. I felt a little nervousness about that, but I trusted Carlos.

I felt his hands on my upper thighs and bottom, kneading and rubbing, the warming oil feeling sensuous and smelling of strawberry. Then I felt his hand slide between my legs to caress me from behind, rubbing the warming oil on my slit and down onto my clit where it began to work a little magic even without his help. I was moaning almost non-stop. Carlos massaged me for a little bit longer, then lay down on me, pressing the tip of his cock into me from behind, his voice in my ear, "Do you feel me Babe? I'm going to take you and make you mine."

I was panting. "Please!"

He slid all the way into me, slowly. The pressure from the new angle was incredible, rubbing and pressing on my clit and my g-spot at the same time. He seemed to be even further inside than usual, which given his size was saying something. Then he moved his legs against mine, pressing my legs together and hooking his toes over my lower calves. His hands came up and brought my hands together over my head and pressed them onto the mattress. I was essentially immobilized, helpless under him. It was hot as hell!

He began moving slowly in me, then he began talking to me, in English and in Spanish. Alternating, but saying the most incredibly hot things. "You feel me amante? Feel me moving inside you? You are MINE! No one else…" and more. He described how it felt to him, what it meant to him, what else he was going to do to me. At one point he pulled my right hand down, sliding it under me to where we were joined. He was being still. "Feel us together querida! That's it. Now, play with yourself querida. Make yourself come around me…do it!" I did as he told me, feeling us together, rubbing myself until I came. All the while he was talking to me. I never found that kind of thing the least bit erotic before. When the guys I was with would talk to me it was just distracting. Not this, not Carlos, not what he was saying.

He pulled my arm back over my head and held it there. "Do not move, querida. Stay in that position." Then he pushed himself up into a sitting position and began moving that way. Oh god! It was incredible. A whole new way of feeling him. I lost it crying his name and sobbing as I came again. He was still talking to me, moving against me. Then he lay back down on me and began taking longer harder strokes. "I am going to fuck you now until I come inside you querida. Longer and harder so get ready…" He stroked hard into me, again and again, still telling me what it felt like, what he wanted me to feel, and finally how much he loved me, wanted me, needed me. I was sobbing. Then he was talking rapidly in Spanish, and pounding into me from behind, holding my shoulders for leverage. It was intense and powerful and I thought I was flying apart. Then I felt him come and I went with him. When I could finally think, he was laying on my back panting, boneless and heavy in a really satisfying way. I was in pretty much the same state.

Then he spoke again. "Are you all right?"

"Mmmmhmmm. I'm in heaven." He nuzzled my neck. "Did you get your fantasy fulfilled?" I really wanted him to have been happy with what we did. Filling the fantasy of a man like him would be an incredible turn on, especially for my ego after the Dick and Morelli.

I felt him rumble with a little laughter. "That was more than I ever had in my fantasy, Babe. You could kill a man that way." He was quiet a moment, then said something I was totally not expecting. "I love you."

I went still. "You do? Really? With no qualifiers?"

He nodded. "I just love you Babe. Just you, the way you are."

"Carlos, I have loved you for the longest time." Tears were running down my cheeks.

"I know." He rolled off me, reached for some tissues and dealt with the spent condom. Then he pulled me up on my left side facing him, and brushed the hair out of my face. I put my hands on his chest.

"Then why…why have we…what was…" I couldn't seem to get my thoughts together.

"Babe, the first time we made love, in that stupid deal I thought up, you scared the shit out of me. I have never been involved with a woman where I even considered that there might be more than sex and a bit of attraction, maybe a little friendship. I just never have. Between the military, work, being gone at a moment's notice, the dangers involved in my work, it's not something I ever had the time or inclination for." He smiled a small smile at me, his hand on my throat, sliding down to my shoulder. "Then you walked into that diner and I was caught. When you called me to get you loose from the shower that time, I was convinced that you were coming on to me." I glared at him and started to argue, but he stopped me. "Shh, amante. Let me tell my story. When you called, remember you had to call twice? The only reason I came the second time was your voice sounded, I dunno, funny and something told me I should go. I had convinced myself by the time I got there that you were just setting me up. I was going to go in, put you in your place, maybe get a taste of the white girl and leave." I poked him and he grabbed my finger before I could do it again.

"Then there you were. Chained up in the shower, embarrassed, humiliated and pissed." He chuckled again. "I will never forget that as long as I live. I began to realize you really had needed help. Then you didn't come on to me, but treated me as a friend. It was on the drive home that it hit me. You called me because you trusted me to get you out. You trusted me not to take something from you that you would have been pretty helpless to stop. You trusted me and treated me like a man, a real man, not a pretty face, a paycheck or a quick lay. By the time I got back to my bed I was wondering what it would be like for you to be like that and want me too. I was a goner at that point. As we interacted more and more, you took over my fantasy life. And my heart.

By the time I made that deal with you, I was desperate for you. I couldn't quit thinking about you, wanting you all the time. So I made the deal, thinking I would have sex with you and that would be that. Only it wasn't. It only got worse for me. And it scared me half out of my idiot mind. So I told you to fix things with Morelli. That being together wouldn't be good for either of us. And then you did what I said and went back to Morelli. I said other things, things I knew you would take a certain way to keep some distance between us. It took me a long time to understand and accept that I had fallen in love with you. And I wanted you, all of you."

He smiled a little sadly at me. "You were just as bad. Admit it, I scared the shit out of you too, because if you loved me and we got together it wouldn't be a safe relationship where you didn't have to really risk anything more than a bit of your mother's disapproval and her pineapple upside down cake. We both had some attitude adjustments to make."

I sighed. "You're right." I thought for a bit, then remembered something else he had said. "These fantasies of yours…are they really kinky or something? I mean…I don't think I could…I mean I…"

He laughed a little, maybe a little self consciously? "They are just dreams about how I would make love to you. A little role play in a few places, some different positions and locations, but nothing that you wouldn't agree to. At least I don't think so. Does it bother you that I have fantasies about you?"

"No, it's just that you once said you…I asked you if you were sick and you said not physically, but you might be mentally, emotionally and sexually sick. It worried me. And I was just concerned that…I mean…"

"Babe." He sighed. Really sighed. "I should know better than to say things to you that I would rather you not remember. You asked me that question right after a bad session with the counselor I had at the time who was a man that, well, couldn't understand my feelings about you. So I changed to the woman counselor I see now because it was easier to discuss my feelings about you to her. She also helped me with other things more easily too, probably because we had a better rapport between us." I was still watching him closely, so he sighed again. "I was told that I might be mentally sick because I was 'obsessed' with you. I couldn't get you out of my mind. I still can't.. That's why I got so involved in making sure you are safe. I thought if I could just know where you were and that there was a way to find you if something went wrong that I could keep you safe. If I couldn't keep you as mine, at least I would know you were all right. I don't know if I would stay sane if you really…I just wouldn't make it, Babe. I learned that when you were taken trying to help me when my daughter was kidnapped. I thought I was going to die before I heard you were found and were relatively unhurt. "

I was rubbing his chest and making soothing little sounds to him. "Then you and my daughter both were trapped by the kidnapper and I had to get you out. Morelli kept yelling that I was insane for thinking I could just walk into that room and not get killed. He was freaked out that I was so calm about it. I didn't want to die and I took as many precautions as I could, but there was no way I was leaving you in there to be killed and not do something. If we all got killed at least I wouldn't have to know you and my daughter were dead. If I were killed, at least I knew you were alive. And had a chance." His breath hitched a little. I snuggled against him, kissing his chest and chin and murmuring that I was right there and all right.

He exhaled and continued. "Emotionally sick because I couldn't or wouldn't move on and get someone else I could have. I didn't want anyone else and couldn't tolerate the thought of it. Sexually sick because I got to where I couldn't be with another woman unless it was you." I stared at him. He gave me a sad little smile. "A little over a year ago, I stopped even trying. It just made me feel dirty and ill to try. So my counselor advised that I develop fantasies and I took care of my tensions the old fashioned way. She also told me I needed to get my head out of my ass where you were concerned." He shook his head. "She was right. She pointed out my mixed signals were not exactly helping you feel safe in reaching for a relationship with me either. So waiting on you to make the first move was kind of self destructive. That's why I started asking you to dinner, to go on stake outs, ride alongs, distractions. Anything to spend time with you to make you feel safe with me."

He kissed me. "She wanted me to sit you down and have a nice long talk and work things out. But I wanted to wait until I wasn't doing government contracts anymore. So that I wasn't on call for death. The idea of you sitting here waiting for me and I never came back…I couldn't do it." He looked at me in the light filtering through the curtains. "So here we are."

I was floored. And I was doing a happy dance inside. Here we are indeed. My counselor had made the same 'head out of your ass sit down and talk to him' speech to me too. OK. He spilled his guts to me, now it's my turn.

"Ok. We have a lot in common then." His eyes widened. "I haven't been with Morelli in more than 6 months. I couldn't do it anymore. And before that, only sporadically for a long time, and it was awful. The only way I got through it sometimes was pretending it was you. I realized that was a bit sick, so I started avoiding being with him altogether if I could. That's one of the reasons we fought so much." Now it was his turn to stare at me. "I think about you all the time. I worried about where you were and if you were ok and if you were hurt. I always knew when you were back because you would sneak into my bedroom and sit in that damn chair, then sneak out before I got up." He blinked. "I knew you were there, every time you were there. I even went and got one of those little paper monthly calendars and put and xo on each day I knew you were there. How pitiful was that? I marked every time you sat in my chair, every time you kissed me or hugged me or sometimes even every time you touched me. I was pathetic about it. I spent a fortune on sexy underwear so that I could tease you with it for the distractions. And talk about fantasies! I wore out 4 different shower massagers thinking about you, remembering you. So I guess that means we're both sick puppies." I finally shut my mouth and waited to see what he would say to all that.

He was still for a bit, then he pulled me against him and kissed me. I realized that he was also pretty hard. Then he kissed me along my jaw and up into my ear. "What exactly are in these fantasies of yours, Babe? Seems like I owe you at least one…"

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

Querida Mio – my lover or my love.

Amante – same, same.

Mi dulzura – My sweetness.

Madre di dios – mother of god

Diosa – goddess

"Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!" was originally uttered by John McClane aka Bruce Willis in the original Die Hard movie. It only has context in the first movie but he says it in all of them. The reason the phrase has context in the first one is part of the dialog as follows:

Main terrorist Hans: Mr. Mystery Guest are you still there?

John Mcclane: Yeah I'm still here

Hans: Who are you exactly? Someone who watched too many action movies as a child and thinks he's John Wayne, Rambo, Lewis Stevens?

Mcclane: Actually I was kind of partial to Roy Rogers myself. Always liked those sequin shirts.

Hans: Do you really think you can stop us Mr. Cowboy?

Mcclane: Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!

_So my Bruce Willis type good guys are telling my bad guy that they really think they can stop him in a way he would understand and be frightened by.__ The quote is someone's sense of humor. _

The intrigue is getting deeper. What will happen next? And Ranger talked! And talked and talked. I think maybe they finally got it…Many of you have asked where Morelli is – he'll be back (no that is not a terminator reference – or is it?) Who are the players in this story? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money (double dammit!) from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes

REVIEWS PLEASE? Pretty please? With pineapple upside down cake on it? Pleeeassse? There are a lot of people reading (YAY!) but not many posting a word or 2. Please?

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

To all my readers: Definitions at the bottom of the chapter.

*x

*o

********Chapter 13**********

**** Morelli's POV ****

It was the week from Hell. It started at Pino's when that little woman friend of Steph's decided to interfere. I admit my temper had been set off and I was out of control. I should not have brought my problems into the restaurant, and I should never have approached Steph while I was drunk. But the little shrew threw a pitcher of water on me! It definitely got my attention. Then she had the balls to lean in and say what she did. And I will owe her for that the rest of my life. She leaned in and said "Boy, I bet Ernesto Morelli must be so proud of you following in his footsteps." Then she just looked at me, daring me. I suddenly realized my hand was curled into a fist and I was ready to hit her, hit Steph. Then I remembered hitting Steph before when she left me. It terrified me and nauseated me. The one thing me and my two younger brothers and my cousin had all vowed was that we would not follow my father and the Morelli mold of drinking and violence.

Now I was standing in Pino's, drunk and threatening violence, just like my father had. I just turned around and left. I went to my house and stood and looked around at the empty beer bottles and pizza boxes piled around the downstairs, in the living room, dining room, kitchen. My dog Bob was hiding from me in the kitchen under the table. I went upstairs to take a shower to clear my head and there were empties on the stairs, in the bedroom, even in the bathroom! Mother of God. What had I done?

I showered, found some clean clothes then went downstairs and started cleaning house. I filled trash bags full of empties and old take out cartons. I think every dish in the house was dirty too. I tossed the trash bags out the back door as I filled them. I was still cleaning up downstairs when there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Carl Costanza and Big dog on the stoop in civilian clothes. "Cleaning house Joe?"

"Yeah." I looked at Carl a long time. "I think I have a problem."

Carl smiled. "Then you've already taken the first step to fix it." Carl had been here before himself. "There's a meeting at 8 tonight. I can give you a ride if you want?"

I stared at him. I felt like I had been hit by a sledgehammer. I never believed that I would end up here. I was in control. I was not going to give in. I was tough. Now I had to admit that my father's legacy was still there. And I was going to start Alcoholics' Anonymous tonight. I was a drunk. "Yeah, Carl. I think that would be a good idea."

"Good. Let us in and we'll give you a hand cleaning up." I moved aside and let them in.

A couple hours later, they left to go home to their families for dinner. Carl would be back to pick me up at 7:45 for the meeting. I had about 2 hours to kill. I sat down on the couch and Bob dog came in and looked at me, being careful to see if I was angry before coming closer. I called and coaxed and he finally came and crawled into my lap and I just bawled into his fur. I had fucked up bad.

The meeting went well, and I spent the weekend with my sponsor, working out how the next few weeks would go for me. On Monday I met with my Captain at the TPD and let him know about my problem. We both agreed that a few weeks of light duty would be in everyone's best interests. I also agreed to work with the department counselor to assist in my situation. Everyone kind of assumed that the light duty was a response to my behavior at Pino's, and that was Ok. Of course Carl and a couple of others knew better. They were my support network at the TPD.

Then on Wednesday afternoon, my Captain let me know that the ATF had requested my services as the liason with the TPD and some task force that was targeting an organization here in Trenton. I would be coordinating with the ATF, IRS and ICE for some raid they were planning. I was ordered to report for a planning meeting at 7am Friday morning. It wasn't all that unusual. I had done a lot of work with the ATF in particular when I was working Robbery / Vice.

When I showed up for the task force briefing Friday morning at the federal building, I was met at the door by one Brad Tomlinson from Homeland Security. He was a self righteous, snarky son of a bitch and I had detested him the last 3 times I had to interact with him. My hackles rose and I immediately started wondering about the validity of the whole task force.

He clapped me on the back and started talking in his preacher style voice. "Well hello there, Morelli! I know you're gonna love this one. We're gonna tear up a son of a bitch we both hate…"

**** Steph's POV ****

It was 7:45am Monday morning and I was on my way down to work from the 7th floor. I had spent the weekend with Carlos and I was happy. Really happy. Sing to myself and dance in the elevator happy. I got off on 5 and there was Woody, grinning at me. "Good weekend?" Uh Oh. I forgot about the monitors.

"The best! Yourself?" He just shook his head and headed to the break room grinning.

I followed him in and grabbed a cup of coffee and a banana muffin. It was health food, but Ella made the banana muffins seem sinful as real ones. I popped out of the break room and around to my office and came to a screeching halt. My office looked like an electronics store delivery truck had exploded. And right in the middle of it all was Hal and Hector talking techie, opening packages and fiddling with cords and wires.

Hal noticed me first. "Hey Steph, look at all this cool stuff! Ranger approved the work order for our project Friday and Hector and I ordered all the stuff we need for our tests. Most of it came this morning!" He was as excited as a little boy at Christmas. I looked at Hector to find him grinning at me too. Hector was small and wiry where most Rangemen were tall and muscular. He was an ex-gang member with two teardrops under his left eye.

"Uh, guys? Why are we unwrapping this in here?"

"The lab is kind of covered over in stuff and this way we can get you to help us make sure we got everything we ordered and get it checked in. You should be the one checking people out with the equipment since the work order has you as the project manager on it. Besides, we thought you'd like to get in on the fun." Hal was grinning and motioning me to come on over. So we spent a couple more hours unwrapping stuff, checking the shipping order and making sure we had what we needed.

Then we went over the testing plan that guys had worked out. "Looks good to me, but you should probably have Tank go over this to make sure we get the right people testing this for us. When can we be set up to start this?"

"Hector already set up the network and we've been working on getting the apps set up since we did the put up. We knew Ranger would approve. It wouldn't make any sense not to." Hal was merrily crushing boxes and plastic into a big trash bag. "Right now we need to see what we're missing and what we've got and get started connecting it up. We may be ready to test this stuff as early as tomorrow if everything works out."

"Anything I can do?" Not that I knew enough about tech to actually add to the process.

"You could check all the online accounts and make sure everything there is set up the way we want." We spent the rest of the morning getting everything ready to start testing.

About 11am, Lester came by with Ellie in tow. "Oh, cool. Toys!" Hector threw an empty box at Lester and hit him in the chest. "Go away." Ellie peeked around him and asked if we needed any help. Hal was griping about something not working so Ellie came around Lester and looked at what Hal was doing. I noticed Hector looking at her as she came over beside him. She glanced at him, then turned and smiled at him. "You're Hector, aren't you?" He looked surprised. "Yes." He waited. "Steph has told me you are really good at this stuff. Kind of the brains amongst the brawn." She cut her eyes around at the other guys and grinned. "Hey" and "Wait a minute" followed this announcement and a general round of laughter ensued and we all went to work on the electronics. We even worked through lunch, just stopping long enough to get stuff from the break room to eat.

About 2pm, Tank texted me on my phone, calling me into his office. When I got there, Ranger and Henry Williams, the Rangeman lawyer were both in his office. This didn't look too good. "You wanted me?"

"Yeah. You talked to the Pierson Group in Boston about that apartment building we were in the process of buying last Thursday, right?" Tank was scowling.

"Um, yeah, Thursday afternoon. But just to ask about the contents of the building. Y'know, how many apartments, which are occupied, floor plans." I looked around the office, noticing that all three men looked unhappy. "I didn't ask about any terms or costs or anything. Just that. Ella and I were going to work on some numbers for fixing up the empties" I looked around the room again. "What's wrong?"

"The owner is making noises about backing out of the deal. Complaining that we got it under false pretenses. Something about our money being bad." Tank was growling.

"Hunh? What's wrong with our money?"

Henry answered, sounding as confused and concerned as Tank. "We don't know what it means. We're trying to get the sales agent and the lawyer on the phone. They aren't taking or returning calls from us since this morning."

"Can they just back out like that?"

"At this point, yeah. We didn't have a signed deal quite yet, since we were waiting for Ranger to get back to finalize it. But I spoke to him last Tuesday, and everything was fine. They were looking for a slightly different payment schedule, but we didn't have any problem with what they were asking and we were operating under the assumption that it was a done deal. We got the updates Friday morning and I emailed back our intention to sign. I indicated that we would have signed documents back to them close of business today." Henry was really perplexed. "Then this morning I got a call that the owner is concerned about taking our contract because our check might not be good, that the resources we claimed were not legitimate. I'm still trying to find out why."

Ranger hadn't said anything, but he was looking decidedly pissed.

**** Ellie's POV ****

Meeting Hector had been an experience. He was small for a man. Steph told me he was gay, but I wondered. Something about that notion was off. Anyway, he was small, but I definitely got the idea that he could be way deadlier that some of the other guys at Rangeman. Just an impression maybe from the gang tats. We were making progress later that afternoon when Steph got a text and headed out of her office. I followed to the door and watched as she went into another office. When she came back she seemed rattled and a little pissed. "What's going on?"

"We just found out that one of the apartment buildings they were trying to buy in Boston is trying to fall through. The seller is trying to say that Rangeman's money isn't legit." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Wow." This was not going to make for a fun time. I looked back in time to see Ranger and Tank leave the office for the conference room. They looked pissed. Definitely not happy campers. "What're they going to do?"

"I don't know. Try to talk to the owner and see what he heard and from where, probably. Then at least we can figure out how to deal with it. But the guy won't talk to us."

I thought about what this could do to a business like Rangeman, where the integrity of the company had a lot of bearing on how people made decisions. How do you sell security if someone thinks you're not legit? This was really not good.

Stephanie's phone must have buzzed, because she took it out an looked at it. At nearly the same time, Lester mimicked her motions. They both looked at me. "Ranger says they have some info and want to see us in conference room B." Steph was headed out her office door. Lester followed me, with his hand on my lower back, warm and comforting.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Ranger, Tank and Bobby were already in the conference room, looking positively grim. We came in and the three of us took seats on one side of the table, with Steph sitting nearest Ranger at the end of the table, me next, then Lester. Once we were settled, Tank began explaining what was happening.

"Early yesterday morning, a body was found at the Willard in DC. He had been shot twice in the chest and once in the head. He'd been dead about 12 hours." Tank, Ranger and Bobby were all three looking at me. "It was the man who had shoved you down, Ellie."

I stared. "Dead?"

"Yeah. Real dead. Turns out he is some sort of researcher for a lobbyist in DC."

I looked at the table top. Oh boy. I looked back up at the guys. "I don't know what to say. I really…don't." Lester took my hand under the table.

"That's not the most interesting part." They were still watching me closely. "About an hour later, another body was found across the hall. Directly across the hall. The man had been shot the same way, but this man worked in the Pentagon and had a note pinned to his chest. It said "Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!".

Steph gasped and turned to look at Lester, who looked stunned and turned to look at Steph. "Oh my god."

"Steph, it has to be a coincidence." Lester looked rattled.

Ranger spoke for the first time – one word of course. "Explain."

"Steph and I were in the break room after our meeting on Friday and she said something about this being like a Bruce Willis movie. I asked which one…"

"And I said Die Hard only there was no one swinging in yelling 'Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!' and shooting the bad guys." Steph was looking a little green and woozy. "I feel like throwing up." Ranger pushed her head down to her knees and held it there for a few moments.

"This means that there was a bug in the break room. It also means that we don't know who has been bugging the offices, or which side they are on. We're not even sure what the sides are at this point." Tank and Bobby were looking at me, watching my reaction to all this. Lester was glaring back at them. It was pretty obvious they thought I might know something.

Bobby tapped the table top with his pen. "It's also possible that more than one group has been bugging us."

"Well, let me add to the party. There were 2 more bodies found around DC yesterday, both tapped twice in the chest and once in the head. My source says at least one had a note, but couldn't verify what the note said." Tank was tapping his fingers on the conference room table. "I really have a bad feeling about this."

"Sounds like someone is having a pissing contest and Rangeman might end up collateral damage if we're not careful." Ranger was sitting straight in his chair, radiating anger and a deadly calm. "Tank, see what else you can find out about those bodies and any connections they may have to us or to Ellie. I'm going to follow up with Henry and see if we can find out what happened with the building in Boston. I'm going to call some of my contacts in DC and other places to see what they know. This is too many coincidences to be overlooked. And I don't like the trend that's starting."

Steph and I had gone back to her office to continue with the computer stuff, leaving Lester, Ranger and Tank alone to strategize and make plans. Steph was very quiet…too quiet. "Steph, I can leave if you think that would help." I wasn't talking about the electronics we were working on and she knew it.

"No. I really don't think your being here is causing the problems, not really." She looked at me with an apology in her eyes.

"Steph, I really don't think that this all has anything to do with me. I mean, the guy that hurt me, that had to have something to do with my work, but why he thought attacking me was a thing to do, I don't know. The other stuff with Rangeman business, I really don't see how that has anything to do with me being here."

"I know Ellie. The whole situation is bizarre."

"I'm so sorry. I really wish I could do something to fix everything right now." And I WAS really sorry. I knew things were very strained. My friendship with Steph, my new relationship with Lester, Steph's relationship with Ranger, all of Rangeman was under stress. I also knew it was going to get worse before it got better.

**** Steph's POV ****

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on getting the electronics up and ready for testing in the field the next day. There would be two teams testing, one doing routine alarm screening and repair, and the other on standard security rounds to various customers. Then in the evening, they would hand the equipment off to two teams doing stake outs. We'd review the results the day following, make any changes and do it again on Thursday. We would add teams with each go around of testing until everyone was online and the processes had been worked out. Everyone was excited about the new stuff and was eager to test it out, including the ability to send real time video back to Rangeman from anywhere the guys were.

We started testing the next day, Tuesday, with Hal and Hector each going out with one of the teams, and Silvio monitoring the results from Miami. I just worked in the office on other things and on standby to handle anything I needed to in the office. The night before had been quiet. Carlos asked me to stay with him, and we had a good evening together but I could tell he was a bit distracted at times. I focused my energy on distracting him in a good way and solidifying our new relationship.

By the end of the day, we knew the testing was going really well. So well that we were going to step up the tests and not have a down day on Wednesday. I went to Carlos office to give him and Tank a status and realized that something was going down. Carlos, Tank and Lester were in the office looking unhappy. Lester was pacing up and down in the office and someone was on speaker phone.

"So all we know is that they got the information from someone in New York?"

I wasn't sure, but it sounded like Marshall, the head of the Boston office. Tank was the one who responded. "Yeah. He said that he had a contact in New York's financial district that 'warned' him." As far as I knew, Rangeman didn't have an office in New York City, and any business we did there was run from the Trenton office, and most of what we did there was body guards and special event stuff. I didn't know why we didn't have an office there, but we didn't.

"We're not getting any push back locally here in Miami, at least not yet. We've had no indication that there is any problems with anyone, including propects. But if this is coming out of New York it will only be a matter of time before it hits here given all the links to NYC here." That must be Gabe, head of the Miami office.

"Same for Atlanta. I am going to step up contacts with all our existing clients here to try to catch anything as early as possible. I'm also going to go back around to my political contacts and see if they are hearing anything from that angle."

Carlos looked to be in Ranger mode. He was focused and looked ready for action. "Someone is trying to get to us. My sources in NYC tell me there are specific rumors going around that we are not to be trusted, that the Feds are investigating us for unnamed crimes and we are going to be in big time trouble soon. There are also financial rumors going around that our assets are being frozen and we'll be unable to pay bills soon. There is a low level whisper campaign that anyone who helps us will suffer. That someone has us in their sites and anyone helping us will be seen as getting in the way and will have their own trouble to deal with. That's one reason we haven't been able to get a lot of cooperation on this." He was sitting in his chair with his hands clasped, the first 2 fingers tapping his chin.

And so began the week of hell. Clients called asking about background checks, asking for new ones, asking about finances, requesting higher insurance bonds. Several clients expressed concern about renewing contracts. Others were concerned with whether they could get insurance with Rangeman security. Others called asking about the nationality of Rangeman employees, asking for proof of citizenship. Then the government contractors started calling, saying there was pressure to drop Rangeman because of funding issues, budget reviews, congressional audits, and homeland Security issues.

Ranger, Tank, their lawyer Henry, Gabe and the other managers were trying to answer questions and concerns and at the same time figure out where this was coming from. The one answer we got was that someone was applying a lot of pressure to try to isolate Rangeman and cause the company to melt down financially. There was a powerful adversary trying to back Rangeman into a corner, but for what purpose we couldn't find out.

By the end of the day on Friday, the mood at Rangeman was very somber to say the least. Almost all of the commercial clients had either called to say they would not be renewing or were questioning Rangeman's integrity and ability to manage security. Several of the government agencies were also making noises about needing to back away because of congressional pressure. No one could figure out who was pushing or why. It was very scarey. I'd never seen Carlos look the way he was looking. The whole core team looked like they had been beaten. I was with the guys in Carlos office trying one more time to find a pattern that would lead us to the source of the mess. Then Carlos secure phone line rang…

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

"Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!" was originally uttered by John McClane aka Bruce Willis in the original Die Hard movie. It only has context in the first movie but he says it in all of them. The reason the phrase has context in the first one is part of the dialog as follows:

Main terrorist Hans: Mr. Mystery Guest are you still there?

John Mcclane: Yeah I'm still here

Hans: Who are you exactly? Someone who watched too many action movies as a child and thinks he's John Wayne, Rambo, Lewis Stevens?

Mcclane: Actually I was kind of partial to Roy Rogers myself. Always liked those sequin shirts.

Hans: Do you really think you can stop us Mr. Cowboy?

Mcclane: Well, Yippie-Ki-Yay MotherFucker!

_So my Bruce Willis type good guys are telling my bad guy that they really think they can stop him in a way he would understand and be frightened by.__ The quote is someone's sense of humor. _

The intrigue is getting deeper. Morelli's back and you have to wonder if he's a good guy or a bad guy. And who is after Rangeman? Who are the players in this story? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money (double dammit!) from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes

Sorry this update took so long. I've been working 70 hour weeks on a computer contract and finally finished it. It was only supposed to be 3 months, but ended up being 7 months. I now have a break and will be spending time editing what I've already written and writing some more!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

*x

*o

********Chapter 14**********

_By the end of the day on Friday, the mood at Rangeman was very somber to say the least. Almost all of the commercial clients had either called to say they would not be renewing or were questioning Rangeman's integrity and ability to manage security. Several of the government agencies were also making noises about needing to back away because of congressional pressure. No one could figure out who was pushing or why. It was very scarey. I'd never seen Carlos look the way he was looking. The whole core team looked like they had been beaten. I was with the guys in Carlos office trying one more time to find a pattern that would lead us to the source of the mess. Then Carlos secure phone line rang…_

It was 7pm on Friday night, 8 days since Ranger returned.

***** Carlo's POV *****

My secure line rang and startled all of us. I was hoping it was General Austin with some sort of answers for us. "Manoso."

"Colonel Manoso, by now you should be having a very bad day." I didn't recognize the voice, so I punched the speaker button so the whole team could hear the conversation. I had a feeling it was going to be enlightening.

"Who is this? This is a secure line." Everyone's head popped up.

"You should know better than anyone that there is no such thing as a secure line, Colonel. As for who I am…I am the man who can rescue you and your company from destruction." Dramatic son of a bitch, isn't he?

"Really? How exactly is that going to happen and how much is it going to cost me?"

He laughs. "I'm not after money Colonel. I want Rangeman, and specifically you and your core team on call to me. Your…talents…will be very useful to me. I'll allow you to keep the company, but you will sign an exclusive agreement with me for special services and will take no other…special…contracts with anyone else. I assure you that you will be compensated for your work. Perhaps not as well as the feds could pay, but it will be lucrative for you and your team none the less. You can keep the rest of the business. I'm not interested."

"If you want our services, you could always approach Rangeman in the open and we could negotiate a business agreement to fulfill your needs." What the hell kind of things would this guy have us do? If they were legit, he wouldn't be going at it this way.

He chuckled. "No, Colonel. I want control of the actions and the tasks you will be working on. You are a man who is known to only do those things you want to do. Some of the tasks I need your talents for are not ones you would likely agree to easily, if at all. You get no choice in this. You work for me and do as I tell you to. No arguments, no discussion. Simply obedience."

"No. Rangeman, and in particular myself and my core team will not work under those terms. We will not work if we do not retain the right of refusal."

"Now, now Colonel. Don't be too hasty. Things are not too bad right now, but I assure you things will be getting much worse very soon unless you agree to my terms." He sounded sane, even jovial. "I have only applied a small amount of pressure so far, but there is a great deal more I can bring to bear on your company and on the individuals in your company. How many of you can withstand a full scale investigation into your lives without serious trouble? How many of you have things in your past that can be used to destroy the lives of your families and friends? Do you have enough money to survive investigations from multiple law enforcement agencies and a congressional investigation into your black ops payments? Can you stand up to an IRS audit into your personal as well as business finances, especially since part of your income is from secret sources that can't back you up? I doubt it very much. Be reasonable Colonel and accept my offer and save you and everyone in your circle a great deal of pain."

"No." I am not going to be blackmailed or forced into bondage with anyone, especially one with as little honor as this guy seemed to have.

"I was afraid you were going to be stubborn. Very well, then. You have 48 hours to change your mind. If you don't, things will get exponentially worse. By this time next week, you will be begging me for help to get out of the ditch you and your company are in. You will be contacted in 48 hours." The line clicked as he disconnected.

The room exploded. Cursing, questions and outrage flowed from everyone. I was furious. But we needed to get a handle on it and get it channeled into finding out what the fuck was going on.

"Enough!" The room quieted almost instantly. Everyone looked at me to see which direction they would go in. "Obviously we are being set up for a reason and now we know what the reason is. That should limit the who, but we still don't know a specific direction. This is a secure line. That means someone with access to the secure communications military network."

Lester was bursting with outrage. "That means someone from inside the military somewhere is working for this guy!"

"Yeah, and that means I need to call General Austin again and let him know this has happened and tell him the specific threats we received." I looked around the room. "I also think this ties back to that bullshit at the last debriefing as well."

Tank took that opportunity to begin organizing things. "He talked about an investigation into our private finances as well. We need to look into everyone's finances and records to see if anyone has been snooping around in them the last few days. Lester, let's start organizing the guys into groups to look into things. I want everyone working in teams of 2 assigned by us to makes sure we don't over look anything."

"I also want someone going over the senate subcommittee people we identified earlier. See if there has been any movement in any of them. Travel, money, phone calls, anything. That crack about congressional investigations means they've got to be in this some where." I was sure of that. This was some sort of power grab and it had to involve high level politics and money.

The guys all got up and started out, Tank still organizing and giving assignments. "Steph, you coming?" Lester had stopped to put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, Les." She was looking at me.

**** Ellie's POV ****

This had been the week from hell for all of Rangeman. I had helped as best I could with Steph and the guys setting up and testing the new field equipment during the day, and spending a lot of time on my own in Les's apartment in the evenings and at night. Les would usually come in for a quick dinner, and then later for a few hours of sleep. There really wasn't much I could do not being a Rangeman employee and being a possible source of trouble. I didn't blame them for that. And there were things I could do on my own without prying eyes. I'd been logged into the secure network looking for links, reading reports and sending my own requests and instructions out. God, what a mess. I was getting a headache.

I had just put up the satellite connection when I heard the door locks click and Les came in. I started towards him and he put up both hands. "Hold the thought Querida. I need a shower real bad. I stink and feel grungy."

I smiled at him. He could be so cute for such a big guy. "Need some help?"

He stood and looked at me longingly. "God, I wish I could spend the next few hours with you in the shower, on the bed, on the table…but I can't. I have to get back upstairs. But if you want to sit in the shower with me we can talk."

"Sure, what's going on?"

He headed towards the bathroom pulling his clothes off as he went. Yum. "We got a breakthrough just a little while ago. Some guy called Ranger on the secure line to threaten us and try to force us to sign ourselves over to him in return for calling off the dogs." He bent to set the water temperature as I watched the muscles in his back and bottom move. I had a hard time not jumping him.

"Wait, what? But that means someone in the military or…"

"Exactly. Ranger is calling his contacts at the pentagon to let them know. In the mean time we're following up on the threats he made." He was lathering himself up. God. Focus, focus.

"What threats did he make?" I was staring and trying to keep my mind on what he was telling me.

"He said that there would be several law enforcement agency investigations as well as a congressional investigation into Rangeman and each of us individually. And he said there would be IRS audits and that our government payments wouldn't hold up. That he could stop it if we agreed to do "special" projects for him only." He was rinsing the soap from is body, god help me, and did little air quotes around the word special. "Ranger's pissed, really pissed." He shut off the water and started drying himself. "We're doing checks on each of us for possible hits on our information, as well as looking at some of the congressional types. Tank is running his contacts in DC for intel on what might be cooking and Ranger is trying military contacts for back up." He leaned in and kissed me before heading to his closet for clean clothes. "I'm headed back upstairs to help out." He came out of the bedroom fully dressed.

"I have time for a sandwich with you, then I've got to go. We still have a few customers left as well as all this checking to do." He pulled me into his arms and just held me for a few minutes. He had given me a lot of information to process. God, things were moving fast.

"I have a few contacts of my own. I'll make some calls and see what I can do too." I hugged him back and closed my eyes to inhale his scent. I was falling for him hard and was well aware that he might not want me when everything was done. The thought was painful in the extreme. I really wanted him to stay with me. "I would give anything to take you home with me and lock you in! You'd do all the cooking and cleaning while I made all the money and kept you locked up! Yum!"

He looked down and gave me a goofy grin. "I'd look good in a little French maid's uniform!" he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"If you're going to be my kept man, you'll be cleaning house in a speedo…no a loin cloth! Yeah, a loin cloth would be just fine!" My eyes were glazing over and I was definitely starting to drool at the image in my mind. YUM!

Lester threw his head back and laughed. Then looked down at me still grinning. "I would be happy to wear a loin cloth for you anytime, Querida. Kept man or not." He laid his head on top of mine and sighed. "But right now I have to go back upstairs and help out. I'm sorry to leave you alone for so long."

"It's all right Les. I understand. I'll just stay here and see what I can do." I watched him slam down the sandwich and take out the door with a little wave as he disappeared. I stood for a little bit and just imagined what it would be like to stay with him. Then drew in a deep breath and tried my best to shake it off. I had a job to do and needed to see what was going on. It was getting way deeper way faster which meant that things could blow up in our faces if someone wasn't really, really careful. I headed back to my computer.

***** Steph' s POV ******

I looked at Ranger as he sat with his head tipped back. He looked tired and a little defeated. I walked over to him and brushed my hand across his forehead feeling his silky hair flowing over my hand.

"I don't know what to do, Steph. I have no idea who is pulling the trigger on all this, or where he comes from." He sounded tired. I was really pissed at whoever was doing this. Ranger had just come back from a mission and hadn't even had a chance to recover from that when his business comes under attack. He needs rest and some happy, but I'm not sure how soon that is going to happen. And I still had the feeling that we were missing something. My spidey sense wouldn't leave me alone. I looked over his desk and spotted the folders with all the people we'd identified as possible victims in this thing.

"I want to take those and go over them and anyone else that may be linked in this. I really have a feeling there is something in there we need to find."

"Babe." Ranger sighed and drug his hands across his face. "I trust your instincts and your luck. If anyone can find a link in all this it would be you." God I loved this man. He was a warm, solid presence in my life and I owed him so much. It's not that I felt an obligation exactly, just that I wanted him to be happy and not have so much crap to put up with in his life. This whole situation was wrong. Ranger had sacrificed so much for his country. Granted he was well paid for it, but still, he didn't have to do the contracts in order to make a living. He would always be able to make a lot of money just because of who he was. He's smart, adept, and understands business and risk taking. Whatever he put his mind to would be a success. That he was now being targeted by some greedy man because of his service pissed me the hell off.

I slid into Ranger's lap and put my arms around his shoulders. I leaned into his chest and kissed and nibbled on his neck. He arched his head to the side and gave me access, moaning a little as I continued to nibble and kiss. He turned his head and we kissed, our tongues dueling for control, our hands busy stroking and touching.

Then there was a rap on the door. We both sighed and unwound from each other. "Sorry, Babe. We'll take this up again when we are alone."

"I know. I am getting seriously pissed at whoever is doing this. I am going to kick some serious ass when I find him."

Ranger gave me his almost smile. Kissed me once quickly, then helped me to my feet and handed me the stack of folders off his desk. "Go get 'um Tiger!" He turned me towards the door and popped me lightly on the butt. I squeaked and reached to open the door just as another tap sounded.

I opened the door and there stood Lester and Tank, both smirking. "Get those looks off your faces, boys. You are looking at a seriously pissed off Jersey girl. I'm going to get this guy if it's the last thing I do."

"Whoa! I guess we interrupted something, huh Tank?" Lester poked Tank with an elbow.

"You guys didn't. If it weren't for this SOB we'd not even be down here on a Friday night. I'm going to see what I can find." I gestured at the folders in my arms. "Don't look for me anytime soon." I headed for the small conference room.

The small conference room was empty. It had a table and chairs for about a dozen people and was used for team briefings before and after action. It's where we usually met to go over distractions. But right now it was unused. It also had 2 walls that were floor to ceiling white boards, a PC hooked up to the network, a small couch along the far wall of the room under the windows, and its own coffeepot. I dropped the folders on the table, and went to make a pot of coffee. I was pretty sure it was going to be a long night.

****** Unknown POV ******

It was quiet in the office building. NYC was a 24 hour a day city, but not all businesses operated on that schedule. The man behind the desk was waiting for his contact to show up. He had no idea how his contact got in and out of the building without a pass or checking in with security. It was a government building and had some pretty tough security coverage. But he wasn't going to ask. He wasn't paid to care. He was paid for information. And he had a lot of it to pass on tonight. Financials plus official information on the operatives he'd been asked to research. He was going to get more money for this bit of work. A lot more. This was the first time he'd been asked to delve into areas that involved Delta Force operatives. He had skill reports, mission summaries, non-military operations that they had participated in. It was all hush hush and uber secret. He hadn't been able to breach the military network and get the files over there, but he'd gotten close. Almost too close. There had been an alert on the accounts he had been trying to break into and he'd had to pull back. But he still had a ton of information for his contact tonight. And he was getting paid double for the work. He smiled to himself. He would be able to take off after this. Run to ground in Rio. He could live a long time on that money in Rio.

There was a noise in the outer office and then his contact appeared in the doorway. "You have the information?"

"As promised." He handed the flash drives to his contact. "It's all there, with the exception of the military info. Someone pulled an alarm on all the black ops accounts and it wasn't possible to break in."

His contact nodded, then place his briefcase on the desk in front of him. It was opened and the guy put the 2 flash drives inside. All he could see was the outside of the case that was facing him, but he did notice that it was a very classy, very expensive leather briefcase. The man closed the lid and moved away from the desk.

"Uh, aren't you forgetting my payment?"

The man paused in the doorway, then said quietly, "No, I haven't forgotten." His contact turned, and for the first time the man saw the gun in his contact's hand.

"You gotta be kidding?" He rose from behind the desk, staring at the gun in the contact's hand. Nothing further was said. The only sound was three pops from the gun. Two bullets hit him in the chest, and one went between his eyes.

"No, I didn't forget anything, you idiot." The contact calmly slid the silenced 9mm back into the holster under his arm, and exited the office area. He swiped the card to let himself back out of the office, and watched to make sure the door closed and locked properly. The sign on the door said "The Office of Homeland Security – Special Investigations and Projects". The man turned and carded himself into the stairwell, making sure the door closed and latched behind him. He checked his phone, to see that he was still on schedule. He had another 10 minutes to get out of the stairwell and across the alley before the cameras began sending live signals again. Right now, the stairwell cameras were sending images of an empty stairwell over and over.

The man made it down 11 stories to the side entrance, let himself out and crossed the alley to a flush door set in a wall of concrete. A card swipe popped open the door and the man went thru into the back of the parking garage where his car was parked. He made sure the door closed and latched behind him, then calmly, quietly made his way between the 2 cars and crossed the floor aiming for his car. Suddenly, a van appeared, slammed to a stop next to him. Two men reached out from the side door, grabbed him and tossed him in, closing the side door behind them. The van sped off and out of the garage, into the NYC night.

It was 3:45am, Saturday morning, a touch over 9 days since Ranger returned.

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

The intrigue is getting deeper… Who was the caller on the Secure line? Who are the players in this story? What is Ellie doing? Will Steph's spidey sense save the day again? How will Rangeman survive the devastation to their reputations, client list and income? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money (double dammit!) from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner, although he is a bit redeemed at the end. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes!

To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

*x

*o

********Chapter 15**********

_The van sped off and out of the garage, into the NYC night._

_It was 3:45am, Saturday morning, a touch more than 9 days since Ranger returned._

**** Carlo's POV ****

My head hurt. I didn't usually get headaches, especially tension headaches. But I have one now and have had it for a couple of days. I was pretty sure I was going to have it for a few more days too. I needed sleep and I needed food, in that order. I left my office and went to see where Steph ended up.

After a bit of looking, I found her sitting at the small conference room table surrounded by files and papers, her laptop on and a bunch of names up on the white boards in the room. She was laying face down on the table, her arms folded around her head like she just fell over that way. She was sound asleep.

I went over and picked her up from the table.

"Whaisit?"

"Querida, you need to go to bed. It's late and you need to sleep."

"Nooo. Connections there are connections. I know it. Gotta find out where…" I carried her to the couch, sitting down with her on my lap. I wanted to enjoy just holding her since there might not be too many opportunities for us in the future.

"I know amante, but you need to sleep so you can find them." She was moving restlessly in my arms and mumbling about links and something tickling her. "Shhh, querida. Let me hold you while you rest awhile. I'll wake you in a couple of hours and help you find what you are looking for." She mumbled a little then settled in, cuddling up against me and sighing. I leaned my head on hers and let myself relax and drift off.

Just for a little while.

xoxo

***** Somewhere in a windowless room *****

The man stirred. Then went still, listening. All he heard was the blower on the ventilation system and some distant formless noise. He took stock of where he was and what he knew.

The last thing he remembered was completing the retrieval he had been tasked with and the termination of that loose end. He had successfully left the building and crossed to the parking garage, entering through the door in the back of the garage. He remembered making sure the door had closed and locked back. He remembered walked towards his car and almost making it to the back bumper…there was a van! A van pulled up behind him and he was grabbed from the garage, tossed into the back of the van and there was the tingle of a stun gun. Then nothing until he woke up here. Where was here?

He was lying on some sort of cot or bed. It was uncomfortable, hard and flat. No pillow. He was on his side. The room was brightly lit as he could see the glare through his eyelids. There didn't seem to be anyone in the room with him, but he was probably on camera and the room bugged. He waited a bit. Then decided it didn't make any difference if they knew he was awake, so he opened his eyes and looked around.

He was in a small room, the walls painted some shade of beige. There were no windows in his field of view. In front of him sat a table and a couple of chairs. The cot he was laying on was too low for him to see the top of the table while he was lying down. He decided to sit up and see what else was in the room and also to see what would happen. He suspected he wouldn't be alone long.

Sitting up left him a little light headed. There was a feeling of cotton in his mouth and an odd metallic taste. Likely he had been drugged at some point. He stretched a bit to try to loosen some muscles and continued to look around. Across the room to his right was a door that was painted the same color as the walls and appeared to be a metal door of some kind. There was no door knob, but there was a keypad next to the door which probably opened the door. He looked around and didn't see anything else in the room other than the table, 3 chairs, a pitcher of water with 3 glasses on the table, and the cot he was on. No clock, no 2 way mirror, no rug, no wastebasket. Nothing. No clue who had him or why.

Great. And now that he saw the water, he was desperate for a drink. He eyed the pitcher, wondering if the water was drugged, then decided it didn't matter. He was not getting out of this anytime soon and he wanted the cotton and the metal taste out of his mouth. He stood and took the two steps to the table and poured himself some water. It was cold and tasted really good. Good enough that he drained the entire glass and contemplated another. In the end, he decided on only one glass. If he drank two, he would need to pee soon and there didn't appear to be any way to do that without peeing in one of the corners. He'd wait a while.

Suddenly, he realized his briefcase was missing. He felt a moment of panic, then calmed himself. No one could open the case without his codes and a finger print scan. If they tried, the contents would be destroyed using an incendiary device. Anyone in the vicinity would be more than a little uncomfortable as well.

So he simply slid back onto the cot and leaned his back against the wall and waited.

There was no way to tell how long he waited. He actually dozed for a while. Then he heard a click and the door popped open. A woman followed by two men entered the room. All three of them were dressed in suits, the men in the ubiquitous blue pinstripes, white shirts and dark colored ties. The woman was in what appeared to be a designer suit in a soft charcoal with a pretty blue shirt underneath. The skirt was one of those things his wife called a pencil skirt which made the woman look curvy and ended just above the knee. She was wearing 3 inch heels. The second man was carrying his briefcase and another folder. The first man moved to the side of the door and leaned against the wall. The second man and the woman went and sat on the side of the table facing him, the man placing his briefcase on the table with the folder next to it. They all screamed FED. He wondered which of them was in charge. He suspected he would find out soon enough.

The woman spoke first. "Mr. Arnold, if you would please come take a seat, we can get started." She pointed at the vacant chair across from her. OK then, they knew his name. And he learned that the woman was in charge.

Mr. Arnold stood up, moved to the chair and sat down, placed his hands on the table and waited. The woman smiled slightly. "Mr. Arnold, you seem to be in a bit of trouble." The man next to her reached out placed his hands on the case, and popped the latches on the front. Mr. Arnold tensed. The lid to the case swung up…and nothing happened. Holy crap.

The man reached into the case and pulled out the gun with the silencer and placed it on the table. Arnold noticed for the first time that the man was wearing latex gloves.

"It seems that you used this gun," the woman gestured at the gun on the table, "to kill at least 14 people in 6 states in the last month." She shook her head slightly. Arnold sat absolutely still. If they knew that, he was done. "That alone would be enough to create severe problems for you, including the death penalty. But that is not the worst of things for you." Arnold stared at her. 14 counts of murder for hire? What could be worse?

"You may not be aware of it, but the…packages you retrieved…" the man pulled the 2 flash drives out of the case and dropped them next to the gun. "They contained a lot of sensitive information. Some of the information could reasonably be used to convict you of treason. It would definitely convict you of espionage." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Don't look so surprised Mr. Arnold. They take a very dim view of people trying to get info on our military capabilities and deployments. The government will be very interested in who hired you and what they were planning on using the information for. They can make it very uncomfortable for you using the various anti-terrorism acts that have been passed."

Arnold stared at her. Espionage? Terrorism? He felt sick. If he had known this job was involved in anything like terrorism or military espionage he would never have taken it. He had been assured the information was related to commercial interests and industrial espionage. Just companies trying to get one up on other companies over who got the most money on a contract. "I should have a lawyer." The woman's expression shifted slightly, but he couldn't place what the shift was.

"Before you start hiring a lawyer, you should perhaps think things through a bit. You see, there are only three options the government can allow you. First, you could be tried and convicted on the murder charges. Since they were for hire murders that would automatically mean the death penalty in 3 of the states you committed the murders in. This would mean multiple trials, a lot of expensive lawyer time, and think what your poor family would go through." The woman paused. "Second option would be that the powers that be could decide that you are involved in a terrorist plot and you could end up being interrogated in an obscure third world country friendly to the US, but with VERY relaxed interrogation laws. It's a little practice called rendition. If you survive that, you would find yourself in jail and stranded in said country, with no way out and no help from your government. Not a pretty fate, but easier on your family…unless the government decides they are also involved, in which case they get to tag along." The woman smiled slightly. "The third option would be your FULL cooperation and some sort of witness protection program for you and your family to protect all of you from reprisals." The woman paused to let all that sink in. Arnold was breathing rapidly, his heart trying to beat out of his chest and he desperately wanted a drink. Then the woman spoke again.

"Do you want to cooperate? Or do we go to plan B?" She simply waited and watched him squirm.

It didn't take long. Arnold wasn't stupid. "All right. I'll tell you what I know." Arnold simply would not allow his wife or his children go through either of the first two options. That only left full cooperation as a way to move forward. If that meant throwing a bunch of rich, corporate suits under the bus, so be it. Not his problem. "Where do you want me to start?"

The woman smiled. And began asking questions.

xoxo

**** Steph's POV ****

I don't know exactly what woke me up. I was comfortable and warm. I came a little more awake and realized that I was lying on what felt like Carlos and his arms were wrapped around me. I raised my head slightly and looked around. I recognized the conference room where I was working and then realized I was laying face down on Carlos who was lying on his back on the couch that was in the room. I raised my head a little more and looked at the clock on the far wall. It was dark in the room, but I could just make out that the time said 7:23AM. Hunh. I needed to pee, so I moved a little and tried to get up without bothering Carlos. His arms tightened and he mumbled.

"Don't go…"

"I'll be right back Carlos. I need to pee." He rumbled a bit in his chest then mumbled to me, "You'll come back?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back"

"Mkay." He let me go and I stood up. I brushed his hair aside and kissed his cheek.

"Sleep. I'll be right back." Carlos mumbled and rolled onto his side facing the back of the couch. I headed out of the room to use the facilities.

The main control room was quiet as I made my way to the hall and the bathroom. I did my business, and then washed my hands. I looked into the mirror and saw a tired woman with wild hair looking back. My mascara was smeared a bit and I doubted there was much makeup left on my face. My eyes looked very tired. I ran some water and adjusted the temperature to lukewarm and started washing my face. There was something bothering me, nagging at me. I kept thinking about all the information we had on the people that seemed to be involved in this whole thing. I swear there had to be connections somewhere. Something was nagging at me about what I had already found out. I remembered starting some searches, but didn't remember them finishing. I must have fallen asleep before they did.

I headed out of the bathroom and across the control room floor to the small conference room. It was quiet, and it looked like all the guys were here, either just starting to move around and tap on their computers or still dozing on the floor. There was an air of grim determination about everyone. I didn't like it. I slowed and looked around at the room and the men I had come to know, respect, and even love. I didn't like this at all, I really didn't.

My spidey sense was still jumping. It was like when you can almost remember a word or a name and it's right there on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite get it. I shook my head and went into the conference room, being careful to move quietly and not turn on the lights. I wanted Carlos to sleep as long as possible before he had to deal with all this shit again. I touched the laptop to wake the screen and looked at the results of the searches I had run. I skimmed the info then went to the next one and skimmed that, and the last one.

Then it hit me.

I went back to the first searches and checked, then went looking for specific folders on the table and went through them. Oh. My. God. There it was, the first real connection between these people. I all but ran out of the conference room, pulling the door shut behind me. Les, where was Lester?

I went around to his cubby and there he was holding his head in his hands, his elbows propped on his desk.

"Les, I think I have something! Look…" I pointed to the info in the folders and pulled the search results up on his desktop and pointed them out to him.

"Holy shit!" Les looked at me with realization dawning on his face. "You found a link!"

"Yeah, now I need your help to follow it up. There have to be phone records, or email trails or something more tying them together! Doesn't there?" I was pleading with him to make it true.

"I'll bet you anything you want that there is. Now we have to find them and fast." He turned and starting calling making phone calls, getting Hal and Hector and Ramon and Silvio and a bunch of others looking.

I had found a link between 2 of the dead guys, one of the Senate staffers, and 3 others who worked for the lobbyist where one of the dead guys was found. They had all, at one time or another, worked for the same research company in Maryland. A research company that was bought by Dynarcorp, the same company where one of the dead guys was dumped.

We all worked like crazy for the next couple few hours. During that time a lot more links started turning up. It seemed like once the dam broke, there were links all over. We found people with shared schools, gym memberships, companies, working in the same building at the same time, even working on the same project at the same time but not for the same employer. In one instance, one guy was in the military, another was a federal employee and a third an independent contractor all working on the same project. It was hard to see because they all had different employers while working on the same thing at the same time. They all shared links to 4 specific corporations including the infamous Dynarcorp.

There were phone calls to and from the same set of phone numbers by different people. We pulled those phone records and found more calls from more people. A spider's web of connections was beginning to grow.

And then there were the bank accounts. No one had the proverbial Swiss bank account with millions, but there was a lot of unexplained money in small increments all over the place. One guy had 10 different bank accounts in 4 different states each with about $75k in them. This guy wasn't a decision maker, hell it was doubtful he had much influence at all. But, he worked in a position where he could get information easily. And there were more just like him. A lot more.

I made frequent trips into the conference room to plot the connections out on the white board. Finally, the tree I was drawing on the board was showing a clear pattern of inter-connected individuals and interconnected companies. I was also beginning to see where the connection might be going too.

Les looked at the board, then at me. "You gotta wake him up. He needs to see this. Tank too." He was whispering to avoid waking Carlos.

"We should keep working on it. We can get a lot farther before he wakes up. He needs to rest." I was also whispering as quietly as I could. I should have known better since we were in the same room where Carlos was sleeping.

"What is it I need to see?" I turned and there was Carlos propped up on one elbow, looking at Les and I as we argued about waking him.

"Carlos, I was trying to let you rest."

"I'm fine. I'm used to going on less sleep. Besides, I lay down with you around 4am so I've had plenty of sleep for now." Carlos turned and sat up on the couch looking at the board behind me. "What have you found?"

"Steph made a connection between a couple of our dead guys, one of the Senate staffers and some staff at a couple of intelligence related agencies." Carlos eyebrows both went up at this. Les continued briefing him. "She came to me and we set up a team and began looking for other connections that are similar. We found them in spades once we knew where and how to look." Les pointed at the white board. "Once we have one connection, others start popping up around it. It's scary how deep into some of the organizations this runs." Les shook his head. "We're getting an idea who the controllers were, the center node people that the others reported to, then the ones they report on up to. You need to see this. I think we are getting a good idea where this is coming from." Les walked over to the door and touched one of the light switches to bring the lights up a bit more without blinding us. "Most of the connections are low level, but in strategic places to provide critical information. Others are higher up, and still others are connected to pretty high levels. Someone has had the military and its procurement and intelligence operations wired for sound."

I watched as Carlos stood up, staring at the white board and making the links himself. I knew the moment he saw where it was going. I saw the depression that I had seen starting to come over him lift a little. Now we had a target, a path to fight this thing. Carlos took his eyes off the board and looked at me. His eyes were dark and intense. He walked over to me and pulled me up against him tightly, burying his face in my neck and inhaling. Standing up on my toes, I slid my arms across his shoulders and around his neck. He lifter my feet off the floor, squeezed me gently, and I heard the words I so loved to hear. "Proud of you, Babe." He held onto me a few more minutes, then lifted his head and looked at Lester.

"Get Tank and fill him in. Get everyone into the main conference room in an hour. We have a lot of work to plan out."

"Where will you be if he has questions, Boss?"

"I'm going upstairs for a shower and food. I'll be back down in 45." Lester took off. Carlos turned to me, gave me a slight smile, and asked "You wanna go get a quick shower?"

I grinned at him. "Let's do this batman."

It was 11:52am, Saturday morning, 9+ days since Ranger returned.

xoxo

**** Ellie's POV ****

I woke up alone in Les's apartment in the middle of his queen sized bed. I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock and saw that the time was 8:22am. I'd slept about 7 hours. I headed for the bathroom and went through my wake up morning routine, then padded barefoot into the kitchen to make coffee. I was wearing an old Rolling Stone t-shirt of Lester's that was way too big for me. It came almost to my knees and was soft and comfy. I wondered what was happening upstairs and had to assume that there was no big movement during the night or I would have heard something from Lester. Or my cell phone would have rung.

I poked in the cabinets and the fridge and came up with some wheat bread and some butter-like spread. OK then. Toast it is. I made my toast then carried my breakfast bounty to the table. Sitting down, munching toast and drinking coffee, I thought about what I needed to do. Things were getting really wild and I had a feeling that things were spiraling out of control way too quickly. I debated getting my PC out and hooking into the network against the risk of being caught, then decided to hell with it. Les already knew I had equipment beyond the ordinary, so seeing me use it again wasn't going to be an issue. And I really wanted to know what the hell was going on.

I went to my bag and got out my satellite link, security token, and the little silver notebook. Hooking everything up, I booted the pc and waited for a connection, then logged in. The first thing I saw was that the message board was really heavy with traffic. I opened the list and started reviewing what was going on. The more I read the more tense I felt. Just as I was contemplating a response to some of the messages, I heard the door lock tumble on the apartment door. I froze for a second, hoping that it was Les coming through the door.

A moment later Les appeared, looking tired and rumpled. He looked at my gizmos and gave me a small grin. "Find anything good?"

"Not yet. A lot of chatter, but nothing really specific." He nodded. "You didn't come back last night…" I wondered if he would tell me anything.

"I know. I wanted to, but we were running searches then there were some alarms at a couple of the clients. We had to show in up in force to prove we are still in the game. Tank and I ran point on the break-ins and in dealing with the clients and the cops." He dropped into the dining room chair next to me and rubbed his face with his hands. "It was a long night. Then when I got back here and was just getting ready to come downstairs for a couple hours sleep, Steph grabbed me to help her." He slumped in the chair and looked at me. "She finally found some connections between all these different people and events and wanted me to confirm what she saw. That led to us taking off on a whole new set of searches and reviews which led us to a ton of connections. We might actually be getting the trail to whoever is behind this."

I sat very still. "What did you find?"

Les looked at me a moment, then pulled his iPhone out of his pocket, tapped the screen and handed it to me. On the screen was a photo of a white board. I could clearly see the names of people, places, companies, and events all with lines linking them in different ways. They had already unraveled things to the point that a few company names were showing up as linked to all of it. There was a list of names down one side of the board, including mine.

"What are these names here?" I pointed to the names at the side. Les looked at me.

"They are outliers, at least for now. We haven't been able to link them in yet." He was still looking at me. I handed the phone back.

"It looks like you're getting a pattern."

"Yeah. It's all pointing back to companies and lobbyists for some military contractors – big time contractors. We still don't know exactly who is behind it or who Ranger's mysterious caller was, but we finally seem to be on a trail." Les turned in his chair leaned forward and caught both my hands in his.

"Querida…" he hesitated. "Are you…" I put my fingers over his lips.

"Shh. This will work out, I promise you Lester. You have to believe that right will prevail." I stroked his cheek. I was in deep trouble here. I really loved this man.

"Querida, I have seen enough to know that right does not always win. Rangeman has been deeply, irrevocably damaged. There is no way this company will survive this, not and be as successful as it has been. Right now, we are all fighting just to keep everyone out of jail or worse." He smiled a sad smile. "Promise me that if shit starts to hit the fan, you will leave and go back home…I don't want you around to be possibly caught up in this when it gets ugly."

He looked so sad. And worried. God I wanted this to be fixed now. "I promise I will leave if I need to." I leaned forward and kissed him. "But I won't need to."

Les leaned into me and kissed me for all I was worth. "I hope not Amante, but I need to make sure you will be safe if you need to be." He stood up and stretched. "I need to get back up stairs. Ranger is getting everyone together to go over what we found and do some planning. I will come back down when I can." He rubbed my cheek then turned and left.

I gritted my teeth and went back to my PC. I had more work to do.

xoxo

**** Carlo's POV ****

It had been a long day. It felt like we were finally getting some productive information and I didn't like what we were finding. We had continued to find links and had built a whole tree of incidents, people, politicians, agencies, events, and deaths that all pointed back to 4 different defense contractors. These were companies that provided equipment, services, and support to the military and intelligence agencies. It looked like they were trying to gain control over the whole procurement process of the military, NSA and CIA. There was a HUGE, obscene amount of money involved and a lot of power to be had. The whole thing involved Senate and Congressional committees, as well as the heads and directors of various departments in and around the defense budget.

I was going over everything one more time when my cell rang. It was a number I didn't recognize based in Baltimore.

"Manoso."

"Don't hang up, please."

My hand gripped the phone hard enough to hear the plastic creak. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't, Morelli."

"I have information about a raid being planned against your company by the Feds."

My heart started to pound and I felt the adrenaline begin to pulse in my blood. "Why are you telling me? How do I know this isn't a setup?"

"Man, I may be a lousy no good son of a bitch in my personal life, but I'm a good cop. I'm calling you from a pay phone in a lousy stinking men's room in some gas station outside fucking Baltimore because I'm a good cop and what is going down is against everything I've worked for and everything I believe in." He was breathing hard, his voice strained. "I hate your guts, man, but I am a good cop and I will not do this."

Que Dios me ayude, but I believed him. "Talk to me."

The tale he proceeded to tell me had me sweating and sick to my stomach. A federal task force had been convened with the sole aim of destroying Rangeman and the people who worked for us. The ATF and FBI were involved because of promises of terrorist ties and gun running. They had no evidence other than innuendo and rumor, and had no probable cause for a warrant. They had already tried to get the warrants under RICO and had been denied – all but laughed out of the judge's chambers with what little they were trying with. To get around that, Home Land Security and the Justice Department were cooperating on non-warranted actions on the agreement to get FISA warrants later. This was the part that Morelli was really having big time problems with. They were going to use national security and anti-terrorism statutes to go on a fishing expedition. The approach would allow them to arrest us all and search and seize anything they find that MIGHT tie back to terrorist activities or any "national security" concerns without actually having a warrant. FISA would allow them to smash and grab first, then explain and justify later. The IRS was moving in with the task force to seize assets and investigate us each individually and as a company for any "irregular" payments that can't be explained. The assumption was they would be able to prove terrorism or at least international crime. ICE was coming along for the ride in order to control and / or deport to "selected" countries – meaning rendition – anyone who was not "properly documented". There were open discussions of shipping some of us to Guantanamo. The expectation was that a number of the ICE detainees would turn on the rest of us to avoid "enemy combatant" status and possible rendition, and give up even more information and goods to use against the rest of us. There were even investigators from a couple of Senate subcommittees, including the one that gave us fits at our last debrief.

Morelli could not go along with it. He had dug himself out of the sewer the Morelli family history had dropped him into by being as straight an arrow as he could in his professional life and getting the job done cleanly. He would push the edge but not cross it. This operation went too far for him…it broke every rule he lived by and he couldn't stomach it.

It would destroy us as individuals, damage or destroy our families, and kill Rangeman. The only piece of good news was that the military had unilaterally refused to aid the task force in any way, including information. This was also bad news, in that the military could justify and explain a lot of the large money payments several of us and Rangeman had received over the years. If they weren't talking, that means they were cutting us loose, on our own, SOL.

I almost threw up.

"Man, I don't know what to tell you to do, but you only got a couple of days to get it done. This whole thing reeks of a setup of some kind, with everyone who thinks they can get brownie points circling the bowl waiting for you to go down. And they got nothing! Nothing! I don't know what you've been into, but the military has its finger prints all over your accounts and some of the jobs you've been on. These guys are ignoring that at best and at worst it somehow gets twisted into some kind of conspiracy with some of these guys. I'm supposed to represent TPD, but I'm gonna get REAL sick and have to go to the hospital so I can avoid participating in this. I'll stay as long as I can to try to find out when this is actually gonna happen. They're planning on raiding either first thing Monday or Tuesday. I don't know what the trigger is exactly, but they seem to be waiting on one last permission before letting the raid happen. They keep talking about a phone call they're waiting on. I'll try to get word to you as soon as I find out when it will be, but I don't know if I'll be able to." Somebody was pounding on a door in the background. I heard Morelli tell them he would be out as soon as he could. "I can't stay on much longer. The only reason I got in here was because I told them my stomach was acting up and made them stop. I'll do what I can."

"Understood."

"Manoso…tell Steph…Tell her I'm sorry and I'm doing what I can to help."

"I'll tell her. I'll also try to get her clear of this if I can." Knowing my Babe, she was going to have to be drugged and forcibly removed from the building to get her out of it. I would do it if I had to.

"Thanks. Good luck, man. The task force is on its way back to Trenton now. I'll try to let you know when we get back and where we are setting up." The line went dead.

It was 6:45pm, Saturday evening, 9.5 days since Ranger returned.

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

What is up with the Task force? Will they survive? What will Ranger do? And what's with Morelli being a good guy? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.

The next few updates will come pretty fast since I pretty much have it all written out. I had to in order to clean up the timeline and get everything stitched together so it made sense. PLEASE review so I know what y'all think of all this!


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Except for Ellie Ross and a few other added OCs which are wholly mine, these characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money (double dammit!) from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes

Sorry this update took so long. To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

*x

*o

********Chapter 16**********

"_Thanks. Good luck, man. The task force is on its way back to Trenton now. I'll try to let you know when we get back and where we are setting up." The line went dead._

_It was 6:45pm, Saturday evening, 9.5 days since Ranger returned._

xoxo

***** Somewhere in a windowless room *****

Mr Arnold was lying on the cot, dozing off and on. He had been exhausted when the woman finally finished asking her questions. He'd drawn floor plans of the offices he had been in. He'd looked at pictures, identifying the people he'd taken orders from, received packages from, handed packages off to. He'd given the dates and times of meetings, deposits, phone calls. He'd itemized meeting locations, phone calls, emails. A lot of it they already knew from their own investigations. What they wanted him to do was fill in the blanks, outline the why, who and what of the different interactions. It was very tedious.

They had finally finished some time ago. He had no idea how long. There was no clock and he didn't have a watch or cell phone to check. At least they had finally fed him. The food wasn't bad. Homey. Comfort food in the form of meatloaf, mac'n'cheese and green beans. Iced tea to drink. They also finally relented and showed him to the bathroom. Turns out there was a vestibule of some sorts outside the only door to the room, and the bathroom was inside there. It was painted beige too. Windowless and nothing in there to use as a weapon or create problems of any kind unless it was clogging the toilet with toilet paper or the hand towels. He had decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

He wondered what his wife was doing, if his kids were OK. The woman had promised they had been picked up and taken to a safe house for the time being. He hoped they weren't too frightened, that they hadn't been hurt or scared during the move. He missed them. He wanted to see them, make sure they were OK. He wanted this over with, but he suspected this was going to go on for a while before they could have any sort of "normal" family time again.

God, he was feeling sorry for himself. He wished he could sleep.

Suddenly, the door clicked open and the woman and the two men return to the room. Just like before, the first man leaned against the wall, and the second man and the woman sat at the table. Arnold just watched them.

The woman smiled at him. "Please Mr. Arnold, come take a seat so we can talk." He complied, just like before, sitting in the chair and placing his hands on the table. "We have confirmed the key points of your information and the rest will be very helpful to us. You have done a great service today Mr. Arnold, although I know you are not in a position to appreciate it as yet."

Yeah, right. Arnold simply looked at her for a long moment. "What's next then? How…Is my family all right? When can I see them?"

"They are safe and sound in a nice home in a safe location. They will remain there until you can join them later. Once this is over, you and your family will be given new identities and moved to another location to start over." The woman was trying to be soothing.

"When do I get my deal?" The woman raised an eyebrow. "We need to get everything in writing or I'm not going to testify about any of this. I'm not going to jail for these guys so we need to get everything in writing or I'm not testifying." He leveled a glare on the woman. "Period."

"Testify?"

Arnold restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Yeah, testify. I'm not going to give up my rights and incriminate myself without some sort of deal in writing that will protect me and my family. I got rights you know."

"Ah, yes. I will arrange for you to speak to your wife and assure yourself that they are safe and being cared for. We have plans for you Mr. Arnold, so keeping you and your family safe is important to us." The woman gave a pointed look at the man next to her who nodded slightly. "We'll arrange a computer so that you can see and speak to your wife and children and ease your mind." The man and woman stood up. "Once you do that we'll speak again about the future." They started to move towards the door. "Oh, and Mr Arnold? You do have rights as an American citizen. But those rights only apply when you are dealing with the government." She smiled slightly. "We're not the government." They all turned and left the room, the door closing with a loud snap.

Mr. Arnold stared at the door in confusion. Not the government? Then who the hell were these people?

Xo

xo

**** Lester's POV ****

I slammed into my apartment, intent on taking a shower, changing clothes and spending a little time with Ellie. I needed to feel clean and I needed to get my adrenalin under control. Ranger had just filled us in on the call from Morelli and everyone was in a major rage. Ranger himself was trying to keep himself locked down, to maintain control of the whole company. Everyone else was dealing with the anger and frustration the best we could. Ranger had given us all an hour to get ourselves together before we met again to plan our next steps. I desperately wanted to bury myself in Ellie and forget the whole thing. God. We were screwed.

I looked around and didn't see Ellie immediately, then I heard a noise in the bedroom. I walked into the room to find Ellie bent over next to the bed, looking for something in her suitcase. Her pretty little bottom was up in the air and my t-shirt had risen up over her ass, showing me the cute little blue panties she was wearing. That was all it took.

I stalked to her, grabbed her by the hips, picked her up and tossed her onto the bed as she shrieked. I toed out of my boots, yanked my shirt off and followed her down, landing on top of her.

"Lester what…!" My mouth crashed down on hers and my tongue invaded her mouth, taking control and ravaging her mouth. I pulled away just long enough to yank the t-shirt over her head and toss it on the floor. I then put my mouth on her nipple and began nipping and sucking on her. Ellie was making inarticulate sounds, her hands tangled in my hair. I reached down and ripped her panties off her and began rubbing circles on her clit while my other hand pulled my cargos off. My cock was hard as a rock and I wanted in her now. I moved back up and began kissing her deeply again, all the while using my fingers to make her wet and ready for me. She was whimpering and clawing at my back and hips thrusting her hips up at me. She was ready. I lined myself up with her opening and thrust all the way in with one stroke. She cried out and came all at once, her walls squeezing me tight in waves. I grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged her head to one side, biting and kissing her from her shoulder to her ear and back again. All the while I was pumping into her, desperately trying to get as deep as possible. Her hands were on my hips urging me on, meeting my thrusts with her own. I was nearing my own climax, pounding into her. "Come with me baby, come with me!" I was pistoning into her as hard and fast as I could. She wrapped her legs around my hips giving me even more access to her and hung on. I pounded into her a few more times and we both went over the edge, crying out our release to each other. Afterwards, we lay still joined as I enjoyed the after shocks of her climax. After our breathing slowed, I kissed her. "Are you OK? I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, God no." She opened her eyes and stroked my face with her hand. "A little rough sex occasionally is a good thing." She looked into my eyes. "What happened?"

I sighed. Slipped out of her and rolled on to my back, pulling her with me to lie against my side. "It's un-fucking believable." And proceeded to tell her everything Morelli had told Ranger. "Ranger thinks this phone call they are waiting on is from the guy who called Ranger yesterday. He gave Ranger 48 hours before he called back to get our final decision. Ranger thinks that this guy will call and give the task force the go ahead once Ranger turns him down again. He is due to call at 7pm tomorrow night which gives us less than 24 hours to figure out a plan of action."

"Lord." Ellie looked at me, worry on her face. "What are you going to do?"

"We're going to meet in a little bit to figure that out. I'll keep you posted as best I can. I'm just hoping for a little sleep tonight." I got up and started gathering my clothes. "I'm going to shower then head back up."

Ellie followed me into the shower, scrubbing my back and loving my front a bit. Then I dressed and went back to help try to plan a way out of the situation. Ellie went back to her gadgets as I slammed out of my apartment.

Xo

xo

**** Ellie's POV ****

I stared at the closed apartment door and thought over what Lester had told me about the planned raid. This was going to get really ugly really quickly.

I made my decision.

I went back to be briefcase and opened another pocket on the inside, reached in and fished out a blackberry cell phone. I took a deep breath and dialed a number, then waited for the answer on the other end.

"It's on. Start the exit sequence. A full report will be on its way shortly…Yes…I will notify you of the time once things are a little further along. Keep me posted on progress and we'll develop a detailed timeline as we go. Contact this number if there are any issues." I hung up and took a deep breath. Now all we needed was enough time, a little luck, and really good planning. I was pretty sure we had the really good planning, the rest was wait and see.

I went back to the table and starting typing. It was going to be a very long night.

It was 9:07pm, Saturday evening, 9+ days since Ranger returned.

xoxo

**** Steph's POV ****

I had retreated to the 7th floor right after Carlos ended the meeting where he outlined what Joe had told him. I was sick and anxious and scared and had to get away before I broke down in front of everyone. Now that I was up here, I couldn't seem to stop the tears that flowing down my face. I just fell to the floor next to the couch, curled into a ball and started to cry. I was crying so hard I didn't hear the apartment door open and close, and didn't hear Carlos calling my name. The first I knew he was near was when he scooped me up and carried me, still sobbing, to the bedroom and lay down on the bed with me in his arms. He was crooning to me, whispering in Spanish, rubbing my back and arms, rocking me, trying to soothe me. "Don't cry, please don't cry". I finally was able to get control of myself enough to stop.

"I'm so sorry. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I'm so scared and sooo pissed off! Why is this happening?" My hands were fisted in Carlos black t-shirt. "It's not fair! It's not even legal! How can we stop them?" I wanted him to tell me it was going to be OK, that he wouldn't let anything happen. But I knew he wouldn't lie to me. Just like I knew he had no control of this situation. There really was nothing he could do unless someone higher up would step in. And that wasn't happening.

"I don't know Babe. I just don't know." He sounded tired, defeated. "I want you away from here before the raid, Babe.' I started to protest. "Listen to me. You're not implicated here. I need you to get clear, get safe so you can keep trying to fight this, trying to find out what the hell happened. Promise me you will leave Sunday night before the raid." I was shaking my head. He shook me.

"Look at me Stephanie. I need you to do this. If we go under in the raid, you'll need to be clear in order to work on getting us loose. Someone will need to go to the press, get lawyers, something to get to the bottom of this. Promise me!"

I looked at him. He was serious, intent on getting my promise. I would give it to him if for no other reason than it would ease things for him now. I really didn't know if I would be able to do anything if they took him, but I would give my life trying.

"All right. I will leave a few hours before the raid. And I will do my best to continue fighting it. I promise." He smiled and kissed me. It was a gentle, loving kiss that was deep and long and for keeps. I refused to believe he was kissing me good bye. We stayed together on the bed for a while longer, just holding and comforting each other. Finally, Carlos' watch alarm went off. Our hour was up.

"So, what's next? What are we going to do?"

Carlos sighed. "The only thing we can do is prepare. Get all the paperwork together and on site at each of the offices. Get the lawyers to go over everything again. Look for some way, some contact to get us inside the task force to try to stop the raid. Make sure we are ready to file whatever we need to file to stop it or to get out of jail if we can't stop it. And anything else we can think of." Carlos sat up and scrubbed his face with his hands.

"We'll also have to put plans in place to deal with the crash Rangeman is facing. There are payroll and personnel issues to try to plan for, and some sort of escape route for families to keep them out of the line of fire." He heaved another sigh. "It isn't going to be easy, or even possible to protect everyone. Especially since we don't know who they are going to arrest or what they are going to confiscate." His shoulders were slumped and he sounded defeated. I really hated what this was doing to him. Carlos was an honorable man who served his country and tried to give everyone who worked for him a fair shake. This whole thing really stank.

"Well then, I guess we better go to it." I climbed off the bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face and try to feel human. When I came back out he was waiting for me. He put his arm around me and we went together out of the apartment and back down to 5 to plan for what was coming.

It was a long time before we were able to grab a couple hours of sleep. We spent most of the night trying to protect what we could, then got back up early Sunday to start again. The whole time I really wanted to kick the shit out of someone – I just couldn't figure out who.

**** Unknown POV ****

It was 8:17am when the operative slipped onto the 5th floor and walked quietly towards the back corner. It was obvious that something was going, as several men were working on their computers and another group of guys were in one cube, having some sort of discussion. A couple of guys were in the break room waiting on the fresh coffee that was brewing. The atmosphere was one of intensity and exhaustion. A steady pace brought the door of the office close very quickly. The door was partially open, just enough to slip through without having to move it. The man sitting in a leather office chair behind his desk was obviously not having a good day. His head was in his hands and he was not moving, other than his finger tips slowly moving on his temples. He was one of the most dangerous individuals the military ever trained, quiet, efficient, and utterly lethal. Keeping him under control for the next minutes would determine the outcome of a lot of things swirling in the air right now. Losing control could mean the death of one of them. Suddenly, he stilled. Crap.

It was show time.

**** Ranger's POV ****

It had been a long few days. My last mission hadn't been this mentally exhausting. Of course, on the mission I had a target, planning and a map. Here, we were struggling to determine the path, trying to find a weakness and some way to protect ourselves at the same time. There was a federal raid that was going to go down probably Monday morning and it was going to be a complete cluster fuck. The company was gone, that was a given. Now all I could do was try to find some way to protect the men and their families. I had no idea how. I couldn't get anyone on the phone. Even the Pentagon was not returning calls. It was beyond frustrating. It was frightening.

I heard someone come into the office, and realized they were not saying anything. I waited a moment and still nothing.

"Whatever you have to say, say it."

The response was quiet. Calm. "You should be more aware of your surroundings, Colonel." I looked up, straight into the silver muzzle of what appeared to be a 9mm hand gun. Pointed straight at me. In my own office, in my own building.

SHIT! The idea that you see on TV that someone with a gun pointed at them looks at the shooter is nuts. Doesn't happen. When someone without training is looking down the barrel of a gun pointed at them, they freeze and all they see is the gun. Ask the cops. Anytime someone is held at gun point, they can give a clear description of the gun but not the gunman. Him they never see. With training, you still freeze and you still look at the gun, but you also start sorting thru your mind and your peripheral vision for something to throw, something to duck behind, a distraction, something. But I was sitting behind my desk, my nice clean desk. There were a few things I could throw, but I doubted I could get to them before the trigger was pulled.

"Please Colonel, don't do anything we'll both regret." That quiet voice came again. I forced my eyes off the gun, up to the face of my assassin.

And straight into the eyes of Ellie Ross.

It was 8:44am, Sunday morning, 10+ days since Ranger returned.

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

Ellie is holding Ranger at gunpoint in his own office! Rangeman is in flames! Is Ellie really a bad guy? How will Lester take it? What about Steph? Are they going to jail? What next? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Except for Ellie Ross and a few other added OCs which are wholly mine, these characters are not mine (dammit!) and I am not making any money (double dammit!) from them. Just doing for the characters and the story what I think it needs and that the author is not doing.

Author's Note: This is a Babe Story! Morelli is not terribly damaged, but does not come out a winner. I didn't go for actual Morelli bashing, but his personality and behavior tracks in a certain direction and that's where I went. Sorry Cupcakes.

Sorry this update took so long. I've had to wrestle with my muse. To all my reviewers: Please keep it up! I love hearing from y'all!

*x

*o

********Chapter 17**********

"_Please Colonel, don't do anything we'll both regret." That quiet voice came again. I forced my eyes off the gun, up to the face of my assassin._

_And straight into the eyes of Ellie Ross._

_It was 8:44am, Sunday morning, 10+ days since Ranger returned._

****** Ranger's POV ******

I was beyond furious. I had welcomed her, protected her, let her near my Babe, and now she points a gun at me. My Babe was going to be hurt, and my cousin! I was going to kill her. "You are an excellent actress. You've had everyone fooled."

She looked slightly amused. "Perhaps. But we can do recriminations later. There are a few things that need to be done before that."

She had balls, I'd give her that. She was calm, her breathing was normal, and the gun was rock steady, showing no nerves on her part. It would be impressive if the gun wasn't pointed at me. "So what now?"

More amusement. "Now, you bring your hands up slowly, palms out where I can see them." I did what she asked. "Now, roll back and to your left until you are in the middle of the room." I thought about it, then tensed. I could roll back a little, get some room and maybe…

"Ah, ah, ah, Colonel. I can pull the trigger faster than you can move, and neither of us wants that. Please push back slowly, and calmly." I did as she said, thinking and watching every second. "Good. Now turn your palms down and sit on them."

"Excuse me?"

"Put your hands palm down under your butt. Now." I did as I was told. "Now hook your toes back under the chair on the legs." I pulled my feet back and hooked my toes over the supports of the chair. Clever. Now I was restrained and any movement would take much longer and be very visible.

"Now what?"

She looked at me, then stepped forward to the front of my desk. She reached down and picked up my cell phone without looking down. Good peripheral vision and more training. She must have noted the position of the phone and planned the movement before we engaged. She held the phone where she could see it without her eyes straying very far from me. Flicking her eyes between the phone and my face, she went through the phone clicking buttons as she went. One final flick of her eyes and whatever she was doing was complete and she laid the phone back on my desk. She moved to the side towards the windows and stood where she could cover me and see the door. A few moments later there was a tap on the door, it opened and Tank stepped into my office.

"Hey man, I got your text what's so…" Then he noticed the gun and Ellie. He stopped, looked at me, caught my look to play along, then looked back at Ellie and waited.

"Come in and close the door please, Captain Sherman." Tank did as she said. "Now hold your hands up where I can see them and walk towards the Colonel." Tank walked towards me, eyes looking for a diversion, something to break the impasse. "That's far enough." Tank was about 3 feet from me. "Now, Captain, please turn and face me and kneel on the floor." He faced her and hesitated. Kneeling was an execution pose. "Please Captain, do as I ask." Tank cut a look at me then kneeled. "Now reach back, grab your calves with your hands and sit down." Great. She certainly had good training. We were both now in a position where attack or escape would be difficult, slowed by having to pull our hands free and trying to get to our feet. I worked to channel my fury into the hyper-awareness I was trained to achieve.

Tank took the diversion role. "Now that we're both here, what's next? You can't get out of the building and shooting us would get you dead."

She smiled a small smile. "Now Captain, we wait for enlightenment."

**** Ellie's POV ****

I was working hard to maintain a cool exterior. I was facing one of the most dangerous men on the planet and I had to maintain my control and be the alpha in the room. In my work I was always confronted with men who were powerful, physical power, political power, business power. They all have one thing in common. You can never let them know you are intimidated in any way. You have to remain calm, controlled and collected or you're sunk. You can never be impressed with them or they win. It's a good thing I am good at compartmentalizing. Manoso scared the hell out of me. But I put that in a box, set it on a high shelf and would deal with it later. Right after the nervous breakdown that was on the lower shelf. I was earning that breakdown.

Having both these men staring at me was terrifying. Both were trained to the nth degree and could take me to pieces without breaking a sweat. I knew that pointing a gun at Ranger was a dangerous thing to do. I knew from his profile that he had a volcanic temper that had been trained and honed into a weapon. He had been taught how to manage and control his temper and how to channel his rage into a heightened state of awareness, reflexes, strength and could control pain and not feel it even if he were fatally wounded. He would focus on the goal, the apex of his rage until it was gone. And right now, I was in his sights. I needed Tank in the room because, although he was equally deadly in his training, he was also the only one who had a chance of controlling the situation once Ranger went off. He also had a lower temper, and took longer to reach his break point.

There was so much about this whole operation that had fucked up. They teach in the military that battle plans never last past first contact with the enemy because too many things are out of your control once you engage. We'd been watching and planning for a long time. Unfortunately, the timeline was compressing which meant moving far more quickly taking bigger risks than planned.

I was reaching into my pocket to retrieve my blackberry when there was a tap on the door and it opened and Lester walked in. "Hey man, you…" He saw me, the gun and the two guys I was pointing it at and froze. He reached behind him, closing the door and turning the deadbolt.

Shit. The last person I wanted in this room was Lester.

***** Lester's POV *****

Steph had completed a search based on one of her tingles and found some really interesting connections. I had seen Tank go into Ranger's office so I headed over to let them know what we found. The scene I opened the door on stunned me, to say the least. Ellie was holding both Ranger and Tank at gunpoint and it looked like Ranger was heading for an explosion. It wouldn't be pretty and Ellie wouldn't make it if he did. I knew what Ranger was capable of when he was in combat mode and he was near that now. I came on into the room and locked the door behind me to prevent anyone else from coming in on us.

"What is going on?" I asked my question in as calm and cool a tone as I could manage. I slid further into the room, staying near the wall away from Ellie. I moved towards Tank and Ranger. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I wasn't sure what I was feeling or thinking. I couldn't believe that Ellie was the enemy or that she had betrayed us somehow. I didn't understand what she was doing or why. I decided to play it cool and see where things went, while keeping an eye on Ranger to make sure he didn't go after her. I didn't know what was going on, I wasn't sure what to feel, but I still needed to protect Ellie.

"That's far enough, Les." She sounded calm and cool. I kept my hands where she could see them and leaned against the wall.

Ellie hadn't even glanced at me, but was keeping an eye lock on Ranger. Smart girl. I noticed both men were sitting so that getting up quickly would be impeded. Tank looked at me. "We seem to be waiting for something." He flicked his eyes back at Ellie. I looked and saw she had her blackberry and was holding it in front of her face. She flicked her eyes between the phone and Ranger as she clicked a few keys. Then she put the phone up.

"We won't allow you to leave here. There's nothing you can accomplish by holding us hostage. Why are you doing this?" Tank was trying to get Ellie to engage with him, to distract her and get information from her.

I had to know what was going on. "You need to explain this Ellie. You've lied to us…"

The secure line on Ranger's desk rang and we all tensed up. Ellie reached down and pushed the flashing red button and answered the call on speaker. "Speak."

"Your situation?" The voice on the other end was female.

"Ongoing." Ellie was silent for a couple of beats. "Status?"

"The first exit sequence is near completion. Only your items remain. We are ready to commence phase two on your word."

Ellie took a deep breath and looked at the clock behind Ranger. She seemed to reach a decision. "Go. Priority one on stealth, but get the action under control as quickly as possible or the rest of the operation is going to fail."

"Got it. Shall I transfer you now?"

"Do it." Ellie's gaze was back locked onto Ranger. Whatever was going down, she was worried about his reaction. There were several clicks, followed by a tone, then the sound of ringing.

"Austin." All three of us, Ranger, Tank and I stared at the phone.

"Identification." Ellie snapped.

What followed was a series of coded phrases and numbers that identified General Peter Austin, our ex-handler for special operations. We knew them by heart because we heard them every time there was a communication with our handler on any mission. All of us had these codes that only us, members of our team, and our handler would know. We could vary the codes to indicate coercion or other information if needed.

There was silence for a beat, then General Austin barked out, "Identification."

Our eyes now latched onto Ellie. She stood there with a slight smile on her face, then rattled of a series of coded words and phrases. Now we really stared, and I couldn't keep myself from exclaiming, "You've got to be kidding me!"

General Austin exploded. "Director, where the fuck have you been? I've been trying to get in touch with you for days! Do you have ANY idea what has been going on? I've had the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs calling me every hour demanding to know if I've had word from you. And I've had orders NOT to respond to inquiries related to any special operations information, including and ESPECIALLY Striker team. I've been hearing that Manoso and his group are being investigated by everyone from the IRS to ICE to the Senate and I'm ordered NOT to interfere! Do you have any idea what is happening to them? You gave your word they would be protected…"

"General!" Ellie shouted at the General. "I know you've been operating in the dark. It was necessary. I will explain what I can later. Right now I need you to do some things that are critical to dealing with all that."

"Director…"

"Peter, please. I gave my word and I will keep it. But you need to do these things for me so I can." Ellie was breathing more rapidly than before and was still looking Ranger right in the eye, the gun aimed right at his chest. Ranger was absolutely still, blank faced and quiet. At his most dangerous. I didn't know what I was feeling. Ellie was the fucking Director of Section 31 and the ultimate puppet master for Special Ops. She planned and ran our missions, ran our handlers. I couldn't believe it. Was the woman I knew even real? Was any of it real?

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, go to the Chairman's office, and speak only to him and tell him you've had word from me, and the word is 'Now'."

"Just 'now'?"

"Yup. He'll know what to do from there." Ellie took a deep breath. "Then I want you get the manila envelope that is on the bottom of your lower left hand drawer, under the hanging folders, and follow the instructions you find in there."

There was silence on the other end of the line. "General?"

"I'm here. I don't like this." He sighed. "I'll do it. But if you've lied to me, I will make sure you pay."

"I would expect no less General."

"Fine. On my way." There was a click and the line went dead. We were all silent for a few beats. Then Ranger spoke.

"You're the fucking Director of Section 31. You've been pulling the strings on this all along. I want to know what the fuck you're trying to pull and why you destroyed Rangeman to do it!" His words were quiet, said in a quiet, deadly way that would have drug lords about to piss themselves. Ellie just stood there, watching him. "Answer me!"

"This is a take-down Colonel. And Rangeman is the distraction…the bait."

"Bait." The word was quiet. Then I saw it. Ranger suddenly lunged forward and slammed both hands down on his desk and leaned forward towards Ellie, his expression showing deadly intent. Ellie stepped back with her left foot and braced herself, holding the gun with both hands and keeping it pointed at Ranger. She was ready to pull the trigger if need be. At the same time, Tank lunged forward and grabbed Ranger by the arm and I stepped up to the desk by Ellie, intending to block Ranger from reaching her.

Ranger was focused like a laser beam on Ellie. "What do you mean, a take down? A take down of what? And who? You arranged all this. You've destroyed this company." Tank was hanging onto Ranger at this point or he would have gone over the desk. I can't say I blamed him given the situation, but we need to know who Ellie is working for and what was coming in order to counter it. We couldn't do that if Ranger got his hands on her. "There is no way we'll be able to stay in business with our reputation destroyed. You've destroyed the people in this company, almost 200 people most of whom are veterans who've served their country and continue to serve with what we do. There's going to be a raid here tomorrow morning that will destroy each of us personally and will reach our families! Some of us may end up in jail or worse! How dare you do this? You…" Ellie interrupted him.

"Colonel!" Ellie's snapped. She wasn't shouting, but her voice was commanding and as good as a shout. "The raid is not going to happen."

Ranger stared at her, eyes narrowed. "Explain."

Ellie was quiet for a moment. "By now both the IRS and ICE have been informed that the raid they are participating in is unsanctioned and illegal. That it is being run as a sting to arrest FBI, ATF and Congressional conspirators in a RICO operation with possible espionage. As soon as all the players are present, which should occur between 11 and noon this morning, a raid will take them down. Because of possible moles in both the FBI and ATF, Justice has coordinated the raid using both the US Marshalls and the Secret Service." The three of us were just standing there staring at her. Ranger had stopped trying to pull away from Tank, but he was still tense and focused. "The group will be kept sequestered until the rest of the conspirators and the head of the conspiracy can be brought down."

I felt numb. I wasn't sure what to feel, what to think. I wanted to scream, I wanted to hit something. Ellie…God. Ellie.

Ranger began speaking again. "That will prevent the raid, but it won't fix anything as far as Rangeman is concerned. We're still fucking screwed." His fist connected with the desk.

"Rangeman will be credited with helping Justice uncover the conspiracy and volunteering to help take it down. You will receive a cut of the funds recovered as part of the raid. That will be a significant sum by itself. You will also be included as part of the team to take down the person behind all this – your mysterious caller. That is if you want a piece of him."

Ranger stood still looking at her, considering. Tank and I waited to see where this was going to go next. "You know who it is?"

"I do."

"Then I want him."

Ellie gave a tiny nod. "I thought you might."

Tank shifted. "How does this save Rangeman? It gives us operating capitol, but doesn't fix our government contracts nor give us back our private contracts or our reputation."

"As soon as this goes down, you will have all your government contracts back. As for private contracts, the Attorney General himself will call them and explain your role in this and encourage them to continue their contracts. There will also be…additional contracts which will come about as part of the RICO settlement."

By now, Ranger had eased back and the tension in the room had gone down considerably. Ellie also eased her stance, but the gun was still pointed at Ranger.

Ranger raised one eyebrow slightly. "You going to keep pointing that gun, or are you going to put it down, read us in and tell us what we need to do."

Ellie eased a bit more, smiled slightly, then lowered the gun and tucked it into the side pocket on her cargos. Ranger reached around, pulled his chair up and sat behind his desk. Ellie collapsed into one of the guest chairs in front of the desk.

"God in heaven, you are one scary son of a bitch when you're pissed." Her head was down, her eyes were closed, her breath coming in short puffs.

OoOo

***** Ellie's POV *****

I felt shaky, light headed. That was just as hard as I thought it would be. I knew that the position Rangeman had been put into would not sit well with Manoso, I knew as soon as he found out I was responsible he would be after me. I had skated very close to the edge but had made it past – at least for the moment. Now all I had to do was bring Rangeman into the action and make sure everything went as planned.

I opened my eyes to see Manoso looking at me, calm, cool and collected. That in itself was scary. "You have a lot to explain to us, starting with why you didn't simply come to us and ask for our cooperation."

I looked at each of the three men, knowing who they were and what they had done for their country. They had literally been through hell and back. They had a moral code that meant they would do the work to keep our country safe, no matter how dirty the work was. They deserved an explanation and I would give them one. But I also had to pee.

"I'll be happy to give you an explanation and answer questions, but I'd like to do it only once. I'd also like to keep my identity quiet and only brief the core team." I took a deep breath. "Right now, I can answer the reason why I didn't simply come to you. You have a mole inside Rangeman. I finally got confirmation on who it was about 3 hours ago."

I could feel the anger radiating off all three men. Tank asked the question. "Who?"

"Robert Heaton, AKA Dice."

"Tank?"

"He's and ex-Air Force SP who was hired about six months ago and has been an average employee. He is currently assigned to patrol on our remaining accounts. He came in at 11 last night and was assigned a 12 hour shift on the road." Tank thought for a moment. "Come to think about it, he did put up a bit of an argument about working in the office instead of on patrol. I didn't pay any attention because I thought he just wanted to help out."

"Have a couple of the guys pick him up and put him in a holding cell. We'll find out what he knows later."

Tank turned and headed out of the office. "On it."

I REALLY needed to pee. "In the mean time, I need to go get my brief case and take a short humanity break."

Ranger smirked at me a bit. I guess he was proud of himself for scaring the pee out of me. "I'll get the core team in here so you can brief us. I'm going to include Steph." He sent me a pointed look. I thought about it, then nodded. She was pretty much part of the core team and, as my friend and the person I used to gain access to Rangeman, deserved to hear what was going on.

"Be back in thirty. I'll have everyone in here for you." He raised an eyebrow. I had the very mature impulse to stick my tongue out at him. Guess I'm punchy.

I headed out of the office to the elevator with Lester right behind me. I was going to have to deal with us soon. I really did have feelings for Lester. I think I might even be falling for him. The timing was just bad. The ride down to Les's apartment on four was silent, with us just leaning up against the back wall of the elevator. When we pinged onto the floor, Les stepped out ahead of me and opened his door. I zipped into the bathroom for some much needed relief.

When I came out, Les was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms folded across his chest, his face blank – expressionless except for his eyes which were staring at me intensely. "Was any of it real?"

I swallowed. I wanted to cry, but didn't have time. I took a deep breath. "It was real on my part."

Les sighed. "You probably know everything about me. But I don't even know your real name. I know it can't be Ellie Ross."

"Ellie is my real name, but Ross is borrowed. It is my favorite though." My attempt at humor didn't fly very far. "Les, I know I owe you a huge explanation. I'll give you one. Part of it you'll hear upstairs when we meet with the rest of the group. Part of it will have to wait until later. It will take some time which we really don't have right now."

He nodded, then pushed off the cabinets and walked towards me, stopping about six inches away. "How do I fit into this?"

I pulled myself up to my tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. "Pretty well…If you want to." He pulled me against him and held me. He smelled like spice and male and Les. "You've trusted me this far Les. Trust me a little farther. Please?"

He hugged me tight, then pulled back and looked into my eyes. He gently brushed the hair back from my face. "All right. I'll try." He sighed. "We should head back upstairs. They'll be waiting on us." I nodded, grabbed my computer case and we left the apartment.

It was 10:12am, Sunday morning, 10+ days since Ranger returned.

*x

*o

*****Notes*****

Ellie is the Director! Bet y'all thought the Director was a man – didn't cha? Look at the prologue again. Nothing in there says anything about gender. So, what's going on really? Do we know everything now? What's next? Eyebrow waggle. Conspiracies, mysteries, and secrets. Eventual HEAs.


End file.
